Destiny's Meandering Path

by DisConsulate

Summary:

When a terrible storm shipwrecks Zuko in the colonies, he is rescued by an unexpected savior: Haru, an Earth Kingdom boy whose father was arrested by the Fire Nation. Haru, who honors his father's memory by secretly practicing earthbending and trying to be a good and compassionate person, finds solace in the company of the young prince. Together, the two form a bond that must withstand the chaos and cruelty unleashed by the war, and the fickle whims of a destiny that always seems just out of reach.

Notes:

I don't remember who is responsible for giving me this idea, but it ate a month of my life I was meant to be working on other fic projects. There will be no update schedule. It is all here. There may be a sequel fic, because as always I have no chill and wrote too much, but there was a perfectly adequate ending and I've gotten better at cutting myself off.

Find me on tumblr @paramouradrift, or peruse my other works here if you're so inclined.

Enjoy.

Chapter 1: The Storm

雪上加霜 (xuě shàng jiā shuāng): adding hail to snow; to make a bad situation worse

 

Prince Zuko was 13, and rarely came out of his cabin except to use the toilet or grab another map from the chart room. It was late evening, and his Uncle had insisted on dining with him. The cramped cabin felt even smaller with the two of them sitting around a small table laden with food. Zuko had another chart open on the floor, and kept pointing to it as they ate.

“We’ll sail south,” he said. “And look for clues at the Southern Air Temple.”

“What’s the hurry, Prince Zuko?” his Uncle asked. “You should take more time to rest.”

“I can’t waste any more time convalescing,” Zuko snapped, using a word he had just learned the other day. “I have to find the Avatar as soon as possible.”

They lapsed into silence, punctuated by the distant roll of thunder. The weather had been clear for most of the day, but the Mo Ce Sea was infamously fickle. One minute she was balmy and calm, and the next she was howling wind and torrential rain. Uncle frowned.

“It’s getting closer,” he said.

“How can you tell?” Zuko asked.

“If you listen, you can hear it,” Uncle said. “Come, let us see if I am right.”

They ascended to the bridge. Taika, the helmsman, bowed to them as they entered, as did the two watch officers on duty, Rin and Shuu. It was supposed to be a quiet night in friendly waters, so most of the crew were asleep. Through the windows, lightning flashes lit up the horizon. Seconds later, the thunder reached them.

“Count the time between the lightning and the thunder,” Uncle instructed. “As it gets shorter, the storm moves closer, and as it gets longer, the storm moves further away.”

“It’s a big one,” Taika said.

“Can we make for safe harbor before it reaches us?” Uncle asked.

“We passed Kitano Bay several hours back,” Taika said. “We can turn around and try for it, or head east and hope there’s a colony port close enough.”

Another lightning flash, and another thunderclap. Zuko was counting under his breath.

“That was ten seconds,” he said. “How close is the storm?”

“Two miles,” Rin said. “It was four miles earlier.”

“The storm will overtake us before we can reach safe harbor,” Shuu said, standing up. “I’ll rouse the crew to batten down the hatches.”

“Good,” Uncle said. “And inform Lieutenant Jee.”

“Yes, General Iroh,” Shuu said, bowing.

He hurried off the bridge. Zuko looked at his Uncle a little askance.

“Uncle, is it really that dangerous?” he asked. “This is an iron ship.”

“Yes, and that means it is quite strong,” Uncle said, looking grimly at the approaching storm. “But even the strongest ship is nothing against nature’s power. We cannot take any risks. Lieutenant Rin, what of the wind?”

“Southwest, General,” Rin said.

“Helmsman, take us east toward the colonies,” Uncle ordered.

“Yes, General.”

There was another flash of lightning.

“Uncle, that was seven seconds,” Zuko said.

“Prince Zuko, you should return to your cabin,” Uncle said. “This will not be smooth sailing.”

 

And indeed it was not. Zuko did what he could to clean up the plates and put away his loose belongings so that they wouldn’t roll across the floor. He heard a particularly loud thunderclap, and then the whistling of wind. The ship began to sway. He grabbed the food tray and hurried downstairs to the galley. It was all he could do not to drop anything. He passed several sailors who were themselves coming in and out of different rooms and cabins, securing what they could against the pitching of the ship. He passed through the crew mess, where the braziers were being damped, leaving only the dim light of the gas lamps.

“Your Highness, please, let me,” a sailor said, seeing his laden tray.

Zuko wordlessly passed it over to him, bracing hard as the deck pitched again at a steep angle. He heard yelling from outside, and went to investigate. Opening the door to the main deck, water sloshed over his feet and inside, and flecks of sea spray hit his face. By the light of the lookout lamps, a wave splashed over the starboard railing, knocking over a work crew struggling to secure the hatches and close the vents. The wind tore at Zuko’s clothes. A bolt of lightning struck nearby, illuminating waves that rose up suddenly out of the nighttime gloom.

The ship was battered again, and Zuko lost his footing. He slid down the deck, barely catching himself on a pipe. Another wave washed over the deck, and he lost his grip. He hit the railing and fell into the waves, momentarily stunned.

The ocean was cold. He surfaced, gasping for breath before another wave dunked him under. Panic took hold, and he fought to reach the surface once again. Distantly, he saw the lights of the ship, and heard the boatswain’s voice.

“Man overboard!”

The currents dragged him closer, and then further. He struggled to keep his head above the waves. The ship rocked back and forth, lights coming in and out of view as the sea tossed her around like a toy in a bath.

“Prince Zuko!”

Zuko heard his Uncle’s voice, and he tried to call back. He was picked up by an enormous wave, taller by far than the ones that had come before. It carried him up and over, dropping him into the dark trough left in its wake. Zuko lost sight of the ship, the cold seeping into his bones. There was another flash of lightning, but no matter where he looked, he saw only water.

Something bumped against him. A crate. He grasped it, pulling himself on top of it, and held on for dear life. From there, it would have been impossible for him to say how he survived the storm. The crate rolled and pitched, and he nearly lost his grip more than once. He was at the mercy of the waves, tossing him back and forth, dunking him into the dark seas and nearly drowning him. But at long last, the skies cleared, and a pale half moon shone down on becalmed waters.

Zuko was alone.

Chapter 2: The Boy On The Beach

難兄難弟 (nàn xiōng nàn dì): brothers in hardship

 

Haru’s dad was taken away when he was 11. Xiaoshi was a village of miners and farmers, already depleted of men from conscriptions and levies. Word of Lord Tao’s defeat at Yunmen Bridge arrived mere days before the Fire Army, and the only men capable of fighting back were the ones who recently came of age. The rest were too old, too injured or sick, or could not be spared for the militia. The occupation was swift and bloodless.

Nevertheless, Haru’s dad began meeting with others—men and women, young and old—planning to resist the firebenders. Haru wasn’t allowed into those meetings, but he and the other boys whose parents attended would still sneak out to listen in.

“I bet our dads send the firebenders running away,” said Shubao. “With their tails between their legs!”

“Firebenders don’t have tails,” Wen objected.

“It’s just an expression, Wen.” Shubao’s response was snide because Wen was younger than him and also stupid. “Besides, everyone knows firebenders all have dumb little tails.”

“Really?” Haru asked.

“Yeah, because they’re not human,” Shubao said, nodding sagely. “They’ve got scary dragon tails, and horns, and they breathe smoke!”

“They’re monsters!” Wen gasped.

“And that’s why our dads have to win,” Shubao said. “To get rid of the monsters.”

Haru believed it. Not the part about the horns and tails—that was just Shubao trying to scare Wen because he was gullible—but about firebenders being monsters. They were always bothering people, and threatening to burn houses and worse if they weren’t treated nicely. Haru hated them, and he wanted them all gone. He was proud of his dad for being the one to lead the others in fighting back.

But when they tried, they lost. And when they lost, they were taken away forever.

Then, the new governor issued an edict: earthbending of any kind and for any purpose was henceforth banned.

 

Haru’s favorite place to practice earthbending was in a small gulch in the woods on the abandoned Yun family farm outside of town. In the afternoons, after his chores were done and before his mom made dinner, he would slip away for a while. At first, he would just throw rocks around. His dad hadn’t taught him much, and he could only remember a few actual stances. When he was really little, his dad talked about sending him to study under an earthbending master in Dan Duan, but that had never happened. He had been left to figure things out on his own.

He went from throwing rocks to moving boulders. Over time, he got stronger and better at covering his tracks. As a mental exercise, he liked to imagine his father was there with him, drilling him on his bending. Again, Haru, with more force . Do not bend to the rock, Haru. Keep your feet planted firmly. Focus! Or else the earth will bury you!

When he couldn’t use the Yun farm, he went into the hills to the abandoned copper mine. Sometimes it was a home for bandits, however, and on those days he would trek all the way out to the beach, going by secret paths he dug himself.

 

It was on one such day, not too long after his thirteenth birthday, that he found himself at the beach again. It was an early spring morning, and his mom had gone to visit her sister, leaving him in charge of the house. So of course the first thing he did was go out. The beach was a solitary stretch of rock and sand, the ocean full of reefs and shoals that made it difficult for the larger Fire Nation ships to sail close.

Haru began the morning by taking a walk and skipping rocks on the waves. Then, he practiced making walls of sand and rock, to see how long it would take for them to be washed away. Loose sand by itself didn’t stick, so he tried crushing the sand together to make firmer barriers. It didn’t work very well, but he was getting the hang of it.

By mid morning, he was tired. He wandered up the beach a little further until he found a box. It had been broken, and the contents scattered like flotsam. Haru grinned. A merchant ship must’ve lost something, and that meant maybe there would be some useful salvage. Further along, he saw more bits of debris half-buried in the sand. Over a dune, a flock of gulls circled. He gasped when he got to the top.

There was a boy lying on the beach wearing red clothes, the waves lapping at his feet. He had clearly tried to crawl out of the water, but had not gotten very far. His head was shaved except for a patch of long, black hair on the top, and his left eye was covered with an ugly red burn. A few gulls landed nearby and took experimental pecks, but he didn’t move.

“Hey!” Haru yelled, sliding down the dune. The gulls cawed in protest and took flight. Haru dropped to his knees next to the boy and rolled him over. “Are you okay?”

The boy didn’t respond at first. Haru shook him, and then put his ear to the boy’s chest.

“Still breathing,” he muttered to himself. “Oh no!”

A wave broke, nearly covering them both. Haru quickly dragged the boy higher up. As he did, the boy’s eyes opened. He looked sharply up at Haru and then began thrashing. Haru gasped. The boy’s eyes were gold.

“Unhand me!” he yelled.

Haru dropped him. The boy flopped down onto the sand and tried to get away; however, he didn’t get very far before he was overcome by a coughing fit. He spat up sea water.

“You’re a firebender,” Haru said.

“Where am I?” the boy demanded, wiping his mouth. “Where’s… where’s Uncle…?”

But just as he was working himself up into a rage, his eyes rolled back and he fell. Haru was torn: on the one hand, the boy needed help; but on the other hand, he was a firebender, and firebenders took his dad (and Shubao’s dad, and both of Wen’s parents…).

“Mom’s gonna kill me,” he groaned, coming to a decision. His dad always taught him to do the right thing, and that meant not walking away when someone needed help. He lifted the boy over his shoulder like a sack of rice and began the long trek back home.

 

His mother was not happy.

“You left the house alone!” she shouted between whacks with her slipper. “What if we were robbed? You did something I specifically told you not to! You brought home a stranger! Could have gotten lost! Or injured! Or worse!”

“Mom, stop!” Haru said, shielding his head. “I just did what you and dad always taught me to do!”

“We did not teach you to sneak out!” His mom raised her slipper again.

“But mom, he almost drowned!” Haru said. “Can you help him?”

His mom looked at the boy, who was lying on the floor wrapped in spare blankets. He had woken up a few times that day, but he was feverish and delirious. He could barely keep down soup, let alone solid foods, and he occasionally coughed sparks.

“He needs a doctor,” Haru’s mom said. “Doctor Chen went into the city yesterday, and I doubt that ashmaker quack in the mayor’s house would lift a finger for us. I’ll do what I can, but you’re in charge of him during the day.”

“Okay,” Haru said, and then gave her a hug. “Thanks, mom.”

He was annoyed that he’d have to miss a few days of earthbending practice, and that he probably couldn’t hang out with his other friends. Still, he was curious about the young firebender. They looked about the same age. How did he end up on the beach? Who was this uncle he spoke of?

…did he actually have a tail?

Haru wasn’t very spiritual—the spirits had failed to return his father to him, after all, and they had not driven the Fire Nation out with their unbridled fury—but he went to the household shrine to ask for the boy’s speedy recovery anyway. Who knows? Maybe they’d do something this time.

Chapter 3: The Scorpion And The Turtle Duck

舉目無親 (jǔ mù wú qīn): to look up and see no-one familiar; without a friend in the world

 

When Zuko came to his senses at last, he was lying in a makeshift bed. He groaned: it appeared he was convalescing yet again. He was also being tended to by a boy with light green eyes and long brown hair. His dress was poor, and he smelled of dirt.

“Oh, you’re awake!” the boy said. “My name’s Haru.”

“Water,” Zuko rasped. Haru went and got him a cup, which eased his throat.

“What’s your name?” Haru asked.

“Zuko,” he replied. “Where am I?”

“Xiaoshi village,” Haru said. “Uh, northwest of Fasong, and…south of Dan Duan. I think.”

“Am I in the colonies?” Zuko asked.

“Yes,” Haru said. “Um. Where are you from?”

Zuko didn’t answer, taking in the house around him. He was in the main room. Root vegetables hung from the rafters, and the shelves on the far wall were full of boxes and jars. An oven at the back was lit, and he could smell something baking. Two doors led away to other parts of the house, and he could see the front door that led outside.

“How long have I been here?” he asked.

“A few days,” Haru said. “I found you washed up on the beach. You haven’t been asleep the whole time! But you had a pretty bad fever.”

Zuko narrowed his eyes at the door, his head cocked. He could hear the clucking of chickens.

“Are you a farmer?”

“Well, we have a garden and some animals,” Haru said. “My mom’s a seamstress, and I help out around the house.”

“I see,” Zuko said. He sat up, leaning against the cool brick wall. He still felt dizzy, but at least it didn’t look like he was in any immediate danger.

“I need you to do something for me,” he said.

“What do you need?” Haru asked.

“Can you get a message to the magistrate of this colony?” he said. “I need to know what happened to my ship.”

“Um, well, I don’t think I can do that,” Haru said, apologetically. “But I can take you to see the mayor when you’re feeling better.”

“It’s urgent,” Zuko growled insistently. That was another word he’d learned recently.

“Mom said I’m in charge of you until you’re all better,” Haru said. “And I say you need to rest.”

“...fine,” Zuko said, and then lay back down. He frowned, pulling the blanket back over himself, fully intending to nap out of spite. There was something about the way Haru spoke to him, like he was trying not to provoke an angry beast. “Thank you. For rescuing me.”

“Oh! You’re welcome,” Haru said.

Zuko merely grunted and made good on his silent threat to ignore Haru while he willed himself back to perfect health.

 

Zuko’s convalescence lasted another week, and in that time he came to know more about Haru and his home. They were Earth Kingdom peasants, and they were completely harmless. A dark cloud of anxiety hung over him, however. What had become of his Uncle? His ship? Haru’s treatment of him remained friendly, but strained. Finally, after three days of being tiptoed around, Zuko snapped.

“Do you have a problem with me?”

Haru paused his chores, currently sweeping the main room, and frowned.

“You’re a firebender,” he said.

“So?” Zuko demanded. Why did that matter? If they were truly in the colonies, then this boy must know that the Fire Nation were liberators. Haru had no reason to be scared of him.

“Do you know the story about the scorpion and the turtle duck?” Haru asked. “My mom told it to me.”

“I don’t know that one,” Zuko said.

“One day the scorpion asked the turtle duck to help him cross a river,” Haru said. “The turtle duck said, ‘no, you’ll sting me.’ But the scorpion promised he wouldn’t, so the turtle duck agreed to carry him. Then, halfway across the river, the scorpion stung the turtle duck and they both drowned.”

“That’s stupid,” Zuko said. “Why would the scorpion do that if it would kill them both?”

“Because it’s in the scorpion’s nature to sting,” Haru said.

The silence hanging in the air between them was bitter and laden with unhappy memories. Zuko could see that. Angry yelling drifted in from outside. Chickens clucked. Zuko drew himself up, attempting to radiate haughtiness despite sitting on the floor.

“If I’m so dangerous, then why did you help me?” he asked.

“I told you, it was the right thing to do,” Haru said, resuming sweeping. “That’s what my dad always taught me.”

“Where is your dad?” Zuko asked.

“The Fire Nation took him away,” Haru replied. “I haven’t seen him in two years.”

“Oh,” Zuko said, squirming uncomfortably. “I’m…sorry.”

“Yeah, well, sorry doesn’t bring him back,” Haru said, testily. “...Anyway, you’re just a kid.”

“So are you,” Zuko said.

Haru shrugged, and the two of them fell into another uncomfortable silence.

 

When Zuko felt well enough to walk, he left Haru’s house. Haru’s mom presented him with his clothes, cleaned and repaired, and gave him a bag with food for the road. Zuko wasn’t sure that he should accept it, but he could hardly refuse her without seeming ungrateful. Haru saw him off at the gate to their yard.

“Thank you,” Zuko said, bowing at the waist.

“The mayor’s house is that way,” Haru said. “I hope you find out what happened to your ship.”

“I’ll repay your kindness,” Zuko said. Haru gave him a funny look. “What?”

“When the soldiers talk like that, they usually break things,” he said.

“I’m not going to break anything!” Zuko retorted. Haru smirked at him.

“Are you sure you’re not a scorpion?” he asked.

“You’re so dumb!” Zuko said, and that was that. He left without another word.

 

The mayor did not exactly trip over his own feet to make Zuko feel welcome; however, propriety demanded it, and so he was provided with room and board and clean clothes, and a message was sent to the magistrate to inquire about the ship. Zuko spent his time at bending practice or avoiding the mayor’s two young children, who were both extremely annoying. Five days passed before he got a response.

“Your Highness,” the mayor said that evening at dinner. “We received word from the magistrate.”

“What did he say?” Zuko asked.

“It’s not happy news,” the mayor said apologetically, passing him a scroll. Zuko unrolled it.

“...seems to have been lost in the storm, with all hands…” Zuko read. “...despite best efforts, no survivors have been found or bodies recovered. Please extend my deepest sympathies to His Highness, Prince Zuko…”

Zuko’s appetite vanished. He rolled up the letter and bowed to the mayor.

“Excuse me,” he said. “I would like to go to my room.”

“Of course, Your Highness,” the mayor said. His wife gave Zuko a sympathetic look as the whole family bowed. Zuko waited until he was alone before he allowed himself to cry. His Uncle was dead, his ship was gone, and he was now truly alone.

Chapter 4: You Should Stay

塞翁失馬 (Sài wēng shī mǎ): The old man lost his mare, but it all turned out for the best; blessing in disguise

 

Haru and his mom were eating breakfast when the police knocked on their door. Haru’s mom answered while Haru waited by the breakfast table. His eyes darted to the cupboard with the knives.

“Excuse me, officer, is there something we can help you with?”

“By order of the mayor, on account of the assistance you gave to Fire Prince Zuko,” the police officer said, as if reading from an official statement. “You are to be given this as compensation. May the light of Agni guide your way.”

The police officer roughly pushed a small lacquered box into her hands, nodded his head, and then left. Haru’s mom closed the door quickly and waited until they were gone. Then she let out a breath and opened the box

“Haru?” she said. Her hands began to shake.

“Yes, mom?”

“My boy, my sweet, sweet boy,” she was tearing up as she drew Haru into a hug. Then she showed him the gold. Haru’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull.

“How much money is in there?!” he said.

“Not enough to buy a new house,” his mom said, counting them out. “But we could fix the fence, and patch the holes in the roof, so it doesn’t leak during the rainy season. We could buy a goat yak.”

“Or an ostrich horse!” Haru said. “And we could travel to other towns!”

His mom smiled, but then she bustled back into the kitchen.

“You must find that boy and thank him,” she said, wrapping up some freshly-made rice cakes with a clean cloth.

“He said he would pay us back,” Haru said as she thrust the bundle in his hands.

“Haru, what have I told you?”

“Always show gratitude,” he said.

“That’s right,” his mom said, patting his cheek. “Now scoot!”

 

He ran to the mayor’s house, just in time to see Zuko come out through the front gate. Zuko was walking with his head down, a travel pack over his shoulder. Haru waved.

“Zuko!”

“Hey!” a soldier nearby barked. Haru jumped. Zuko looked up. The soldier swaggered up to Haru. “Don’t you know who that is? Show some respect.”

“Yeah, howling like an untrained monkey,” another soldier said from where he sat beneath the awning of a teahouse. “Get on your knees!”

“Sorry, sirs,” Haru said, kowtowing.

“What’s this?” the first soldier said, snatching the bundle of rice cakes. “I bet he stole these.”

“He ought to lose a hand for that,” the other soldier called.

This ghoulish pronouncement was met with laughter, and Haru’s fists curled. They were standing on earth. His earth. It would be so easy to fight. But then he thought of his mom, and knew he couldn’t. He braced himself instead for whatever game the soldiers had in mind.

“What’s going on here?” Zuko’s authoritative voice cut through the laughter.

“Just showing this dirt biter his place, Your Highness,” the soldier said.

“His name is Haru,” Zuko said. The soldiers stopped laughing. “He saved my life. Return his things at once.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” the soldier said grudgingly. Haru knew it was only propriety that compelled the soldier to obey. He got to his feet, and the soldier pushed the bundle of rice cakes into his chest. Haru stumbled backwards. “Sorry, my hand slipped.”

Haru bit back his anger, but Zuko’s glower spoke loud enough for the both of them.

“You’re acting like a common thug,” he sneered. “Not a soldier in the Fire Army. I ought to have your superior flog you.”

The other soldiers seemed at a loss. It was clear they didn’t like this upstart kid talking back, but he had just come out of the mayor’s house, and he claimed the title of prince. Haru didn’t quite believe it, but the lack of backup caused the first soldier to give up.

“Sorry, Your Highness,” he said, bowing. “It was my mistake.”

“I’ll let it slide today if you apologize to Haru,” Zuko said.

The soldier gritted his teeth, but then bowed to Haru, muttering a half-apology just loud enough for him to hear. Haru nodded to Zuko.

“Come on,” Zuko said, leading Haru away by the wrist.

When they were away from the main square, Zuko dropped Haru’s wrist and let out an angry snarl.

“That soldier was completely out of line!” he said. “What business did he have forcing you to kneel like that? It’s disgraceful!”

“Zuko…” Haru said. Zuko paused his fuming. “That’s just how it is here. The firebenders do what they want, and nobody stops them.”

“Someone should,” Zuko said.

“My dad tried,” Haru said quietly. They both stood awkwardly in the street. At last Haru held out the bundle of rice cakes. “These are for you, as thanks for the money. My mom and I really appreciate it.”

“It’s nothing,” Zuko said, accepting the rice cakes. There was another awkward silence.

“So…” Haru said. “Are you going somewhere?”

“I’m leaving,” Zuko said. 

“Oh, did you find your ship?” Haru asked. Zuko shook his head.

“It sank,” he said.

“Oh.”

Haru fidgeted with his hands while Zuko looked away.

“Where will you go, then?” Haru asked. Zuko didn’t answer. Haru steeled his resolve. “Can I show you something, before you go?”

Zuko gave him a searching look, and then nodded.

 

The abandoned mine was truly abandoned today. Layers of hillside had been stripped away, and tunnels snaked their way down into exhausted veins. A few open pits had filled up with rainwater, becoming stagnant ponds. Zuko wrinkled his nose at the place while Haru stretched.

“You wanted to show me this?” he asked.

“No,” Haru said. “Not exactly. But it is a good place to do this .”

He dropped into a horse stance and bent a boulder into one of the ponds. It landed with a splash. Zuko’s eyebrows shot up.

“You’re an earthbender,” he said.

“Yeah,” Haru said, launching a second boulder into the pond. It inscribed a higher arc and landed with a bigger splash. “My dad taught me some before he was taken, and I’ve practiced by myself in secret ever since. It helps me feel close to him, even though he’s gone.”

He threw another boulder into the pond. The splash was spectacular, but he almost missed Zuko’s words as a result.

“My father banished me,” he said.

“What? Why?” Haru asked.

“I disrespected him in a war meeting,” Zuko said. “And refused to fight him.”

“Your dad challenged you to a fight?!”

“He said I was a coward, and the only way I could regain my honor is to find and capture the Avatar.”

“But the Avatar hasn’t been seen in a hundred years,” Haru said. Zuko flinched. “You asked about your Uncle when I first found you. Where is he?”

“Dead,” Zuko said. “With everyone else on my ship.”

Haru’s heart broke. Before he could stop himself, he ran up to Zuko and threw his arms around him in a hug. Zuko didn’t react at first, but when he did he tried to throw Haru off.

“Let go of me!” he yelled.

Haru stepped back, but kept his hands on Zuko’s shoulders.

“You should stay,” Haru said.

“What?” Zuko’s mouth fell open.

“Your dad banished you, and you have nowhere else to go,” Haru said. “Stay with us.”

“I have somewhere to go,” Zuko said, nonplussed. “I have to find the Avatar. Otherwise, my Uncle will have died for nothing.”

“And how are you going to do that?” Haru demanded. “What’s your plan?”

“I’ll think of something,” Zuko snarled.

“Well, until you do, you can stay with me and my mom,” Haru said. “Because I guarantee you won’t make it far on your own.”

“I don’t need your help!” Zuko yelled, throwing Haru’s hands away.

“Yes, you do!” Haru yelled back, and then he shoved Zuko in the chest.

“What was that for?!” Zuko shoved him back. 

“You’re being an idiot!” Haru pushed him again.

“No, you’re being an idiot!” 

Their pushing match turned into a wrestling match. Haru was stronger than Zuko, but Zuko had martial arts training and was not so hard to pin down. They scuffled back and forth until Zuko’s foot dropped into the pond. He fell backwards into the water, pulling Haru with him. They surfaced, spitting up pond scum, and swam back to the edge. They glared at each other, and then burst out laughing.

“I think the rice cakes are ruined,” Zuko said.

“I bet my mom would make you more,” Haru said. Zuko splashed him, and pulled himself out of the water.

“Fine, you win,” he said. “If your mom says it’s okay.”

“She will!” Haru said, eyes lighting up.

“And I’m only staying until I have a plan to find the Avatar,” Zuko added.

“Yeah, okay,” Haru said, rolling his eyes. Zuko glared and then splashed him again. They got into a splashing match, which ended when Zuko’s stomach growled loud enough for them both to hear and they returned to Haru’s house for lunch.

 

Haru’s mom regarded the two boys with as much disapproval as she could muster. They stood in the main room, still dripping, smelling of pond scum and dirt. Zuko was looking obstinately away while Haru was doing his best impression of a wounded puppy.

“Haru, why don’t you tell me what you were up to before I try to guess,” she said.

Haru and Zuko both, surprisingly, spoke at once, their words tumbling over each other in a disjointed mess.

“—and then the soldier said—”

“—it wasn’t even his fault—”

“—he was going to go on his own, mom, and—”

“—he pushed me first, I was trying to—”

“Alright, enough!” she said. “I get the picture. So, Prince Zuko, you would like to stay here?”

“Yes. If that’s alright,” Zuko said.

“Well,” she said, looking around. “Our house isn’t exactly fit for royalty…”

“I was living on a rusty, old ship before this,” Zuko said. “I don’t mind.”

“Alright, but you’re sharing Haru’s room,” she said.

“But—!” Haru protested.

“No buts! This was your idea, and he’s your friend,” his mom said. “Maybe we can build another room with the money we got from the mayor, but until then you’ll have to share.”

“Okay,” Haru said, folding his arms.

“I bet you snore,” Zuko muttered under his breath. Haru kicked him.

“Haru! Behave,” his mom said. “Now, go clean your room so we can make up a bed for our guest.”

“Okay, mom,” Haru said.

“Prince Zuko, may I speak with you for a moment?” his mom asked. Zuko nodded, and the two sat down at the low table. “What is it that you plan to do here?”

Zuko sat up ramrod straight.

“I have an important quest,” he said. “But I don’t have any idea what to do. I was traveling with my Uncle before. We had a ship and a crew. But I lost all of that in a storm. And I don’t want to go back to the mayor’s manor. He didn’t even want me to be there, and his kids are annoying.”

“Couldn’t you return to your father’s house?” she asked.

“...that’s not possible,” Zuko said.

“I see,” Haru’s mom said, hands folded on the tabletop. “Well, you are welcome to stay with us if that’s what you choose. I do have a few requests, however. Does that sound reasonable?”

“It’s your house,” Zuko said, shrugging noncommittally.

“You’re a firebender, and royalty at that,” she said. “Not only that, but you’re a child, and alone. If someone tries to hurt you, I can’t guarantee your safety.”

“I was trained to fight by Master Piandao,” Zuko scoffed. “I can defend myself.”

“Be that as it may,” Haru’s mom said. “I would ask that you don’t do anything dangerous while you’re under my roof, especially anything that might bring us trouble.”

“...fine,” he said, in a tone that suggested he would not comply.

“I have your word,” Haru’s mom said with a sigh. “Also, I don’t want you doing anything to get Haru into trouble.”

Zuko remembered the incident with the soldiers in the square.

“Haru saved my life,” he said. “I would never do anything to put him in harm’s way.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Haru’s mom said.

“Are there any other rules you would have me follow?” Zuko asked.

“Wash your hands before you eat,” Haru’s mom said. “Keep your room clean, and clean up any messes you make in the main room. If you need something from my room, knock first.”

Zuko nodded and bowed.

“Hey, Zuko!” Haru called. “The room’s ready! Also, I get the first bath!”

“What? That’s not fair!” Zuko yelled, jumping to his feet. “You pushed me in! I should get the first bath!”

“I’ll get the tub ready,” Haru’s mom said, also getting to her feet and heading to the back door. “I’d better not find the house destroyed when I come back in!”

Chapter 5: Days Become Weeks Become Months

烏兎怱怱 (uto sousou): black rabbit running quickly; time flies

 

A few days turned into a week.

Every day, Zuko woke up with the sun and went out into the yard to do his morning training. Haru’s mom would call him in for breakfast, and then she would either sit in the main room and work or go out to the tailor’s shop near the main square. Haru would wake up last, and then spend the morning cleaning up the house. If his mom was home, she would assign him more chores to do. If she wasn’t, then he would leave.

“I’ll be back later, Zuko!” he’d say. “Watch the house while I’m gone.”

Being left alone for long periods of time only made him sad and bored—with no Uncle to pester him about this or that, he was at a loss for what to do. Rather than sit and cry, however, he set out to explore the house and soon enough he knew every hidden place in it. He found where Haru’s mom kept her small collection of books, and where Haru stashed his private keepsakes. One day, he checked it and found a small flower there. He confronted Haru about this later when they were alone. Haru was washing clothes in the backyard while Zuko watched.

“Who gave you the white flower?” he asked.

“The—? Zuko! Did you snoop through my stuff?” Haru squawked, slopping water on the ground.

“I was bored,” Zuko said with a shrug. “Answer the question.”

“Ling Ling gave it to me,” Haru said, blushing. “She lives on the other side of town.”

“Does she like you, or something?” Zuko asked.

“I guess,” Haru said, trying and failing to display nonchalance—another word Zuko had learned from his Uncle before. “She’s pretty.”

“So you like her, too,” Zuko said, nodding.

“I don’t know,” Haru said, scrubbing hard at a stained shirt. “Girls are weird. She gave me the flower and then stared at me like she was waiting for something.”

“What did you do?” Zuko asked.

“I just said thanks,” Haru said. “Then she punched me and called me a dummy!”

“Girls are weird,” Zuko agreed.

 

A week became several, and several weeks became a month.

Zuko’s boredom was matched only by his frustration and his grief. When Haru left him alone, he walked around town and listened for rumors of the Avatar. When he wasn’t doing that, he explored the countryside until he found the beach where he had washed up. Then he combed the beach, looking for anything that might have come from his ship. He occasionally found things that must have come from a shipwreck: lengths of rope, a bottle of briny wine that tasted awful, a broken plate, planks of wood. There was a section of beach that made sea glass, which Zuko collected and brought back to the house. But otherwise the beach was boring.

He missed his Uncle, who would probably have thought of something stupid to do with the sea glass. He kept all the pieces he collected in a little bag under his mattress, and would look at them to help himself feel better.

One day, out of sheer desperation for things to do, Zuko secretly followed Haru. That day, he went to visit his friends, a loud, rough-looking farmer’s son and a weedy, whimpering carpenter’s kid who the farmer’s son teased. Zuko disliked them both, and wondered why Haru bothered to talk to either of them. After a short while, though, Haru left, and went into the woods. Zuko found him in a hidden gulch practicing earthbending. Unfortunately, he tripped over a tree root and broke his cover.

“Zuko!” Haru cried, as Zuko fell face-first onto the ground. “Are you alright? What are you doing here?”

“Nothing,” Zuko said mulishly, getting up. “Ow.”

“You’re hurt,” Haru said, looking at his scraped hands. 

“No, I’m fine,” Zuko said, shoving him away. “You were practicing your bending. I want to watch.”

“Uh, okay,” Haru said, confused. “Why?”

“There’s nothing else to do here!” Zuko exploded. “Your house doesn’t have any books or maps, the people in town are dumb and don’t know anything, and the beach is boring!”

“If you’re bored, I could introduce you to my friends,” Haru offered.

“I don’t need friends,” Zuko said, sitting down on the ground with his legs crossed. “I need to find the Avatar. He’s probably mastered all the elements, so I need to see earthbending so I know how to beat him.”

“Sure,” Haru said. Zuko glared at him.

“I don’t care if you believe me,” he snapped. Haru rolled his eyes, but went back to what he was trying to do, which was to make a stack of rocks as tall as possible. Zuko’s frequent sniffs and scoffs distracted him, however, and the stack fell over before he could put the fifth rock on it.

“Hey, I’m trying to concentrate!” he said.

“This is pointless, though,” Zuko said. “You can’t fight by stacking rocks.”

“Earthbending isn’t just for fighting,” Haru retorted.

“Do you even know how to throw a real punch?” Zuko asked, getting to his feet.

“Of course I do,” Haru said. “Watch!”

He picked up a rock with his bending and punched forward, sending the rock across the gulch. It clattered to the ground without much force. Zuko scoffed again.

“This is how you punch,” he said, dropping into a firebending stance. He couched his fist, took a breath like his Uncle had taught him, and punched forward. A ball of fire burst out, singeing a black spot on the ground.

“Wow,” Haru said. “That actually looked really cool.”

“My Uncle taught me,” Zuko said. “He was a firebending master.”

“I don’t know if my dad was an earthbending master,” Haru said. “He wanted to send me to Dan Duan to study under his old teacher, but it was too expensive.”

“You have money now,” Zuko pointed out. “What’s stopping you from going?”

“I can’t leave my mom alone,” Haru said, kicking a pebble.

Zuko frowned. What was the big deal? He was no stranger to being sent away to tutors and teachers for months on end. Haru really was a simple country bumpkin.

“I’ll help you,” he said. Haru looked confused, so Zuko made sure to speak slowly. “You saved my life, so I’ll help you practice earthbending.”

“But you’re a firebender,” Haru said.

“My Uncle told me once that…um,” Zuko said, trying to remember the words. “We lose something by disregarding the other elements. So even though I’m not an earthbender, I can still teach you. And you can teach me how to fight an earthbender.”

“I don’t want to fight!” Haru said.

“Why not?” Zuko demanded.

“My dad tried to fight, and he was arrested,” Haru pointed out.

“Yeah, but did your dad learn how to fight from a firebender?” Zuko retorted. “I studied under the best firebending masters and martial artists in the Capital. I even learned from Master Piandao.”

“Master who?” Haru asked.

“You really are dumb,” Zuko said disparagingly. “Look, I’ll show you a basic firebending set.”

Zuko would not admit to being nervous. He had not mastered all the basic sets. But he wanted to show off for Haru, so he got into position and went for it. He didn’t even trip. At the end, Haru clapped.

“So?” Zuko asked.

“Well, I don’t know if I can jump that high,” Haru said. “But one of those moves looked like something my dad taught me.”

Haru got into a horse stance, and with a strong one-two punching move, he sent a pair of boulders crashing into a tree. The tree splintered and leaned precariously. The two boys waited, tense, with bated breath, but the tree did not fall. Haru sighed with relief.

“Not bad,” Zuko said.

“Yeah,” Haru said. “Yeah, okay. Let’s do this.”

Chapter 6: Four Seasons, Four Loves

深情厚誼 (shēn qíng hòu yì): long and intimate friendship

 

The months stretched on, and the seasons changed.

It was a rainy, muggy summer, and Haru and Zuko were stuck inside. Haru’s mom was in the main room mending aprons and coats, so the two boys took refuge in their room. They were still figuring out how to spar without giving themselves away to Haru’s mom—one time they came home, Zuko covered in bruises and Haru hiding burns on his hands, and she nearly lost her mind—and both of them were gradually coming around to the idea that they needed real teachers. Zuko’s frustration at his lack of progress matched Haru’s sudden awareness of just how little he actually knew about earthbending.

“We could go to Dan Duan,” Zuko said. “It’s a trade city, there’s bound to be teachers there.”

“Earthbending is banned,” Haru said. “They definitely closed all the earthbending schools.”

“That didn’t stop you,” Zuko pointed out.

“Yeah, well, I’m good at hiding,” Haru said. 

“You’re just a kid,” Zuko said, mockingly. “If you can hide it, there will be others.”

“Well, what about you?” Haru demanded.

“I’m the Crown Prince,” Zuko said. “It will be child’s play to find someone willing to teach me.”

“Yeah, but your dad kicked you out,” Haru retorted.

“Shut up!” Zuko snapped. “Your dad’s in jail!”

“Your Uncle’s dead!” Haru yelled.

They both lapsed into angry silence. The rain pounded on the roof.

“I’m sorry,” Haru said. “That was mean.”

“Me, too,” Zuko said. “I shouldn’t have made fun of you.”

They were quiet again.

“Zuko?” Haru ventured. “Can I ask about…your scar?”

Zuko glared at him, and then rolled over on his bed so he was facing the wall.

“My dad did it,” was all he said. He heard Haru shift, and then he was being hugged from behind. Haru’s face was pressed between his shoulder blades.

“Your dad sucks,” Haru said.

Overwhelming sadness welled up in Zuko as Haru squeezed him tight in a vain attempt at comfort. The tears spilled out hot and heavy, and silent sobs wracked his body. Haru remained with him until they subsided, a firm presence at his back.

 

The summer storms broke, and fall was cool and dry. In the mountains, the leaves changed and painted the landscape spectacular colors. One cool morning, Haru’s mom called the boys into the main room.

“Haru, I got a letter from your Aunt Huifen in Dan Duan,” she said. “She knows a potter who is looking for an apprentice to help with his shop, since his son is getting married soon. She’s agreed to take care of you while you complete your apprenticeship.”

“Really!?” Haru asked, excited and terrified in equal measure. “Wait, what about Zuko?”

“Well, I can hardly tell a prince what to do,” she said. Zuko straightened up his posture.

“I would like to go, too,” he said, the picture of politeness. “It will be easier for me to find information about the Avatar there.”

Haru’s mom pursed her lips. Zuko knew that Haru did not believe him about his quest—rather, he thought it as ridiculous and Zuko couldn’t possibly be serious about it. His mom seemed to hold a different view. She did not share it, however, and Zuko told himself he didn’t care anyway.

“I’ll write to Aunt Huifen and ask if she has room for you,” she said. “Unless you would prefer to stay somewhere else.”

“Zuko, please?” Haru said, hands clasped.

“I would be honored to stay with your aunt, if she will have me,” Zuko said, rolling his eyes.

“Yes!” Haru pumped his fist.

They left for the city a week later, hitching a ride with a merchant passing through Xiaoshi and carrying a basket of peaches and jars of fermented beans and cabbage to give to Aunt Huifen. Haru hugged his mom goodbye, and then they spent the next two days in a bumpy cart. They entertained themselves as they often did: by relentlessly teasing each other and speculating wildly about what they would find in Dan Duan. Haru annoyed Zuko with increasingly outlandish claims about life in the city, which included giant badgermole rides and a candied fruit circus. Zuko retorted by bragging about the things he’d done and seen in the Fire Nation, which Dan Duan would never be able to match in a million years.

That night, while sleeping at a roadside inn, Haru scooted as close to Zuko’s pallet as he could and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Zuko, are you scared?” he asked.

“Of course not,” Zuko said. “Are you?”

“Yeah,” Haru said. “I’m worried about my mom.”

“She’ll be fine,” Zuko said.

“What if she’s gone when I get back?” Haru asked. Zuko rolled over to face him.

“Then we’ll go find her,” he said.

“You promise?” 

“I promise,” Zuko said, rolling back over. “Now go to sleep, Haru.”

 

Dan Duan was a bigger town than Haru had ever seen, but wasn’t much by Zuko’s estimation. It sat on a flat plain next to a river that flowed into the sea a mile to the west. Aunt Huifen’s house in the eastern district was smaller than Haru’s house in Xiaoshi, but more handsomely appointed. The woman herself had been kind enough to Haru, and suspicious but polite towards Zuko.

“Thank you for having me,” he said, bowing low.

“It’s no trouble at all,” Aunt Huifen replied. “I’m always happy to help dear Susu’s little boy and his…friend.”

Zuko glanced at Haru and mouthed, your mom’s name is Susu? Haru merely shrugged and replied, I didn’t know she had a name .

The two once again had to share a room, which was so cramped with furniture that they barely had room to stretch. Fortunately, they both had much to occupy their days with: Haru left for his apprenticeship early in the morning, and Zuko found a firebending school to enroll in where he spent most of his time. For the next few months when they returned to Aunt Huifen’s house, they were both too tired to do more than eat dinner, bathe, and drop into their beds like a pair of melonyam sacks.

One night, Zuko rolled over in his bed to face Haru, their noses only a few inches apart.

“Haru, are you awake?” he whispered.

“I am now,” Haru said, yawning. “What is it?”

Zuko looked troubled, and took a moment to form his words.

“Has everything been okay with your apprenticeship?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Haru said. “It’s hard, but my master is very kind. He’s an earthbender, too, you know. He’s been teaching me after we close up the shop for the day.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! It’s a secret, though, so don’t tell anyone,” Haru said. Zuko nodded, remembering his promise to Haru’s mom (he would never, ever think of her as Susu). “How’s firebending school?”

“Our instructor is tough,” Zuko said. “My classmates are all spoiled merchant kids. They’re annoying.”

“You say that about everyone,” Haru scoffed.

“Because everyone’s annoying! Especially you,” Zuko said, punching Haru lightly. “I heard some of the older boys talking, though. Apparently they like to find dirtbiter…I mean, Earth Kingdom shops and smash things for fun. Has that happened to your master’s shop?”

“No,” Haru said, shaking his head. “But I’ve heard about that. The police don’t do much because the ones responsible have important fathers.”

Zuko’s frown deepened. The idea that people could be pointlessly cruel and not suffer consequences was not new to him, but it made his blood boil.

“Haru, if one of my people bothers you, you have to tell me,” he said.

“Fighting them isn’t going to help,” Haru said, shaking his head hard. “Look at what happened to my dad! It just made things worse.”

“Why are you so stubborn about this?” Zuko demanded. “Fine. But you have to promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I promise,” Haru said, extending his pinky. They sealed the promise, and soon after drifted off to sleep.

 

Winter in Dan Duan was cold and dry. The Fire Nights festival was coming up, and that meant both Haru and Zuko had a free day to relax at home. That evening they sat around the dinner table listening while Aunt Huifen talked at her husband, an exhausted middle-aged man named Uncle Yi Ming, about the street fair. Haru and Zuko exchanged looks, and then Haru cleared his throat.

“Aunt Huifen, can Zuko and I borrow some money to go to the fair?” he asked.

“It’s not going to be as good as the one in Capital City,” Zuko said later as they walked down the street. Many people in the district flocked to the bright red paper lanterns that marked the entrance to the fair. They could hear festive pipes and drums even from this distance.

“I bet it’ll be even better than your stupid Capital City,” Haru shot back.

The main road was lined with food stalls, which Haru and Zuko tore through voraciously. They bought fried dumplings, candied fruits, and other snacks.

“Haru, try these,” Zuko said, thrusting a small bag of fire flakes into his hands.

“What are they? They smell funny,” Haru said, critically examining the bright red flakes. He popped a few of them into his mouth. Immediately, his eyes and nose both started running. His mouth felt like it was on fire. Zuko laughed at him, fully doubled over while he spat them out onto the cobblestones. “Zuko, that’s not funny!”

“You just can’t take the heat,” Zuko said, eating a handful of the offending flakes.

“How can you enjoy that?” Haru demanded, wiping his face with his sleeve.

“How can you be so disgusting?” Zuko said, wrinkling his nose.

Haru chased him down the street, waving his snotty, damp sleeve like a weapon. Later, they stopped at a booth to watch a puppet show about how the brave and mighty Fire Lord single-handedly saved a village from a horrible monster. Zuko cringed throughout the show.

“My Father would never have lifted a finger to help peasants,” he said, spitting the word peasant. “He would have sent the army.”

“Maybe it was supposed to be about the last Fire Lord?” Haru suggested. “I heard he was a fearsome fighter.”

“Grandfather? Maybe when he was younger,” Zuko said with a shrug. “He stopped leading his armies when my Uncle was born.”

“What was he like?” Haru asked. His impression of the Fire Nation royal family was that Zuko was the only half-way nice one.

“Grandfather was…strict,” Zuko said. “He always had high expectations of me and my sister, and praised us according to how well we met them.”

“My grandparents were the same,” Haru said. “They always complained about this and that. ‘Haru, sit up,’ ‘Haru, don’t be so lazy,’ ‘Haru, you’re too skinny.’ But they also gave me lots of snacks on my birthday and the new year.”

Zuko stopped dead in the street, struck by a realization.

“I just remembered something,” he said. “What day is it?”

“Uh,” Haru said. “Almost the 15th?”

“My birthday is in three days,” Zuko said.

“How do you forget your birthday?” Haru asked.

“It’s not something my Father really celebrated,” Zuko said tersely. Haru tapped his chin with his finger, frowning while he looked around the street fair.

“Wait here,” he said, and then ran off. Zuko clicked his tongue and walked away towards the center of the fair, where the main street intersected another road. A performing stage had been set up where a fire juggler was currently entertaining the crowd. Zuko folded his arms and watched, but couldn’t really see all that much to be impressed with. Haru returned as the show was ending, winded.

“Hey, I told you to wait!” he said, and then handed Zuko a paper scroll case. “Happy birthday!”

“What’s this for?” Zuko asked. The case didn’t look very sturdy, but it was painted with flowers and trees.

“It’s your present, dummy,” Haru said. “You can keep maps in it when you finally go off on your quest.”

“But you don’t even believe it’s possible for me to find the Avatar, let alone capture him,” Zuko said.

“Well, whether it’s possible or not, I don’t know,” Haru said. “But I don’t want you getting lost.”

Zuko was touched. On the stage, a singing troupe began to play. Haru was watching him expectantly.

“Thank you,” Zuko said at last, smiling.

“You’re welcome,” Haru said proudly.

“But this is just paper,” Zuko said. “What am I supposed to do if it gets wet? Also, I’m a firebender. Do you know how easily I could destroy this?”

“Monkey flapping feathers, Zuko, would you shut up and take the gift?” Haru said, shoving him playfully. “I only had five copper coins!”

“You’re apprenticing as a potter,” Zuko retorted. “Buy me a real gift when you have money, peasant.”

“You don’t have any money, either!”

They spent the remainder of the festival like that, only returning home after the fireworks. Zuko stashed the scroll case next to his bed carefully in a corner where he wouldn’t accidentally crush it, and ignored Haru’s smug expression as he tucked himself in.

 

Spring came to Dan Duan, and with it came early rain and blooming flowers. That also meant it was time for Haru to return home to Xiaoshi for the planting season. Zuko was packing their bags when Haru came bursting in excitedly.

“Zuko, look!” he said, and thrust a ceramic vase into his hands. “I made this! Well, my master did the glaze, but the rest is me!”

“Not bad,” Zuko said, turning it over in his hands. It had been glazed white and green, and a cork stopper fit into the top. Haru beamed at his faint praise, and took the vase back. His master had given him a few other things to take back with him, and a small amount of money.

“Aunt Huifen, this is for you, as thanks for letting us stay in your home,” Haru said, presenting her with his vase.

“You are always welcome here,” she said, smiling warmly at him as she took the vase.

It took three days for them to get back home due to the spring rain muddying the roads, and it was drizzling as they said goodbye to the merchant caravan and walked the rest of the way to Haru’s house. Haru’s mom greeted them both, and accepted Aunt Huifen’s gifts of new clothes and jars of salt and spices with a tired smile.

“Well, perhaps one of the other ladies will appreciate these,” she said, holding one of the dresses in front of her. “Huifen always picks the most unflattering colors.”

Haru joined Shubao and his mom and sisters in the fields during the day. It was difficult work, especially since Haru couldn’t use his earthbending to help, but they passed the time trading stories and telling dirty jokes while out of the adults’ earshot.

“So, Haru,” Shubao began with a sly look. He had gone through a growth spurt, making his hands and feet stick even further out of his clothes than they used to. “Are you still living with that ashmaker?”

“Zuko? Yeah,” Haru said.

“Ugh,” Shubao spat. “Why’s he still around? He’s stuck to you like a leech frog.”

“No he isn’t,” Haru said. “Besides, he’s not so bad once you get to know him.”

Shubao made a gagging sound.

“Gross,” he said. “I’d rather eat horse cow dung than be friends with a redbelly.”

“Shut up,” Haru said, irritated. “I happen to like him. He’s really funny, and he’s been all over the world!”

“He’s been living off you and your mom for a year already,” Shubao said. “Does he even do anything to help out?”

“Well…no,” Haru said. “I mean, he cleans up after himself.”

“Leech frog,” Shubao said.

Haru quickly changed the subject, but when it was time to go home that evening he was troubled. Was Zuko really just lazy and using him and his mom like they were his servants? He was from the Fire Nation, after all. When he arrived home, though, the house was dark.

“Hello?” he called. “Mom?”

“Surprise!”

His mom and some of her friends came out of her room holding candles and lamps. On the table was a spread of delicious food and a small stack of presents. He was showered with congratulations as his fear and surprise turned into relief and warmth.

“Thanks, mom!” he said, hugging her. Then he looked around, confused. “Where’s Zuko?”

“He’s hiding in your room,” his mom said.

Haru stomped over to his door and threw it open. Zuko was sitting on his bed wrapping something in paper.

“Haru! Get out! It’s not ready!” he yelled.

“Oh, uh, okay,” Haru said, sliding the door half-shut. “Sorry! I thought you were trying to skip my birthday.”

“Don’t be dumb,” Zuko groused. “We live in the same house. How could I skip it?”

Haru grabbed his pillow from off his bed and threw it at Zuko’s face. He slammed the door before Zuko could retaliate, and went to join the others for dinner. Afterwards, he thanked each of the guests as they left, taking some of the leftovers with them. Finally, it was just the three of them left to clean up. Zuko cleared his throat, and handed Haru a paper-wrapped cylinder.

“Happy birthday,” he said.

Inside was a glass jar full of sea glass beads. There were dozens of colors, and they sparkled in the lamplight. Haru’s mouth fell open.

“Wow, Zuko!” he exclaimed. “It’s so pretty! Where did you get this?”

“I found all of that at the beach,” Zuko said. “Even the glass jar. It was somehow not broken.”

“He did need to find a new lid for it,” his mom said, clearing away empty plates.

Haru’s gaze was lost in the twinkling, multicolored facets of the sea glass. When he held it up to the light, each one looked like it was illuminated from the inside by its own tiny spark. He felt like he could stare at it for hours.

Something thumped in his chest. A different kind of warmth spread through his body in waves. Zuko was looking quietly pleased with himself, and the tiny smile on his face made the thumping worse.

“No need to thank me,” he said.

“I…I wasn’t going to,” Haru stammered, his cheeks growing hot.

At age 14, Haru suddenly learned what it felt like to yearn for someone.

Chapter 7: Desire

阳光明媚 (yáng guāng míng mèi): the sun shines brightly

 

Haru knew nothing about liking someone, so he pestered Shubao about it the next day.

“Of course, I know all about that,” he said, wiping sweat off his face. “It’s really easy: you get some pretty flowers, wear a nice shirt, then you visit her while her dad’s out of the house. Give her the flowers, tell her she has the most beautiful eyes, and let her invite you in.”

“Then what?” Haru asked, although it was pretty clear Shubao’s advice would be useless. He and Zuko lived in the same house.

“Well, then you kiss her,” Shubao said.

“Oh. Really?” Haru blushed, trying to picture it.

“Yeah, duh,” Shubao said, sighing as if recalling something lewd. “You kiss her, and hold her, and then she takes you back to her room and you f—”

“Okay, I get it,” Haru said quickly. Shubao just laughed at him.

“Aw, are you getting embarrassed?” he asked, mockingly.

“Yeah, because, you know, I didn’t ask how to—to—” Haru looked around. Shubao’s mom and sisters were out of earshot. “I didn’t ask about sex , you idiot.”

Shubao looked confused and disappointed. He was a year older than Haru, and had discovered the joys of the opposite sex before any of their other friends. Haru rejecting his kind mentorship clearly wounded his pride as a man.

“Well, then I don’t know what to tell you,” he said. “Is there a girl you’ve got your eye on?”

“...maybe,” Haru said. “I don’t know.”

“Figure it out, man,” Shubao said, getting back to work. “Girls like confidence. You don’t want her walking all over you and leaving you in the dust.”

Haru rolled his eyes, and let the subject drop.

 

It was getting difficult to live with Zuko. At the same time Haru’s feelings were becoming more and more confused, he was noticing more and more things about Zuko. This was a problem, because, for example, Zuko was not bothered about sharing baths with Haru, or being nude around him generally. He even mocked Haru for being embarrassed about it, saying that in the Fire Nation it wasn’t a big deal: baths were public, and bathing together was a common activity for friends and family members.

“Does this make us brothers, then?” Haru asked once while Zuko scrubbed his back (hard, with a rough sponge).

“Who’d want you as a baby brother?” Zuko retorted, swatting the top of his head. “I had enough problems with my baby sister.”

“You have a sister?” Haru asked. Zuko glared at him for asking the obvious. “What’s she like?”

“A genius. A prodigy,” Zuko said, as if hurling the words against a wall. “You wouldn’t like her.”

“It sounds like you don’t like her, either,” Haru said. Zuko merely hummed, and scrubbed harder. Haru’s back was pink for hours after.

They sparred less frequently, because of one time when Haru won and had Zuko pinned to a tree. His neck was exposed, sweat beading on his pale skin in a way that Haru found mesmerizing. When Zuko elbowed him in the stomach, he let go and jumped back, apologizing profusely. Zuko shook out his other arm, wincing.

“What’s with you?” he demanded. “I tapped out.”

“Sorry, I, uh, I was distracted,” Haru said.

“By what?” Zuko raised his eyebrow, massaging his elbow.

“Uh…by…what mom’s going to make for dinner,” he said. “I’m hungry.”

Zuko scoffed.

“If you’re able to think about food, then maybe I should stop holding back,” he said, dropping into a fighting stance. Haru raised his hands.

“No, uh, that’s okay,” he said.

“Fine,” Zuko said, thrusting his finger in Haru’s face. “But next time, I won’t be going easy on you.”

Haru gulped and laughed nervously. He spent the rest of the week making excuses not to give Zuko a chance to get revenge.

Worst of all, though, were the mornings. Haru had started getting morning wood, and some of his dreams had started taking on a more pleasurable character, when he could remember them. He usually slept in, so Zuko was always out of the room when he woke up, meaning he could deal with it himself.

Except Zuko had begun to sleep in more and more lately. Haru woke up one morning, light filtering in through the small window in their room, to see Zuko still asleep across from him. His robe had fallen open, exposing his lean chest, and Haru’s eyes were drawn to a firm bulge beneath Zuko’s blanket. He stared. Then he found himself wondering what it looked like at full size, his hands sliding down to grip his own erection. Waves of pleasure radiated up his spine.

Then Zuko grimaced in his sleep, and Haru quickly rolled over to face the wall. He heard Zuko yawn, his joints cracking as he stretched and then stood up. Fabric rustled, and Zuko left the room on quiet feet, probably to use the latrine in the backyard. Haru let out a sigh of relief that he hadn’t been caught. By this point, he was too ashamed of himself to continue what he had been doing, and hoped that the day’s planting would exhaust him enough that he wouldn’t remember what he had seen.

 

Zuko made an announcement at breakfast in late spring.

“I’ve decided to leave,” he said. Haru dropped his chopsticks. His mom did not look surprised. Zuko sat ramrod straight, his hands on his knees. “I’ve abused your hospitality for far too long. I can’t in good conscience continue living off of your generosity.”

“Zuko, what—?” Haru started, but his mom shushed him.

“Where will you go?” she asked.

“There’s a merchant caravan in town that has agreed to take me with them,” Zuko said. “If I help them sell their wares, then I can earn some money for myself. But more importantly, I’ll be able to make more progress on my quest traveling around.”

“I’ll pack you some things for the road,” Haru’s mom said. “It has been an honor having you here, Prince Zuko.”

“I will send some of my earnings here,” Zuko said, bowing. “It’s the least I can do.”

“You don’t need to do that,” Haru’s mom said. “Keep it, and use that money to take care of yourself.”

“Mom, you’re just going to let him go!?” Haru cried, finding his voice at last.

“Yes, I am,” she said sternly. “Prince Zuko can make his own decisions.”

“You just don’t like him because he’s a firebender,” Haru accused. “You never wanted him to stay!”

“Haru, that’s enough!” his mom said. “We are not having this discussion. Finish your breakfast, or you’ll be late.”

Haru wanted to argue, but between his mom’s irritation and Zuko’s stony silence he decided to sulk instead.

 

Haru almost didn’t see him off when he left. Once again, Zuko stood outside his house carrying a bag with clothes and snacks his mom made. Haru wasn’t sure how he should face him, but while he dithered, Zuko approached him and pulled him into a quick, fierce hug. Haru began to tear up.

“I’ll miss you,” he said as Zuko pulled back, holding him at arm’s length.

“Me, too,” he said. “You made me feel like…like I had a family again. But that’s why I have to go. I don’t belong here.”

“You could, you know,” Haru said, hopefully. “This could be your home.”

Zuko shook his head, smiling despite himself. He wiped a tear from his unscarred eye.

“Promise me you’ll come back, someday,” Haru said.

For a moment, it looked like Zuko would say no. He hesitated, chewing on his lip, brow furrowed. Then something in him relaxed, and he nodded curtly.

“Okay.”

Then he left, and Haru stayed outside until he had disappeared up the road. His mom walked up and put her hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged her off.

“Haru, you know it’s for the best,” she said.

“Don’t talk to me, mom,” he said, and stomped back inside. He shut himself up in his room for the rest of the day, holding his jar of sea glass for comfort. Zuko’s side of the room was too empty, so he crawled into Zuko’s old bed and sulked until his stomach growled too loudly for him to ignore.

For weeks, he could not muster much enthusiasm to do anything. He still helped Shubao on the farm, enduring the tales of his various romantic adventures, attempted or otherwise. Half of them were either lies or exaggerations, but Haru didn’t feel like teasing him. Shubao interpreted his moody reticence as a sign that he needed some love in his life, and dragged him out to visit Wen, whose house was close to the center of town and thus all the pretty young girls. A few in fact did catch his eye, to Shubao’s boisterous approval; however, he merely waved to them and didn’t attempt more.

“Haru, come on!” Shubao lamented. “Look, I’ll level with you: you’re a good-looking guy, but there are not that many girls in town. If you just ignore them, you’ll end up single and lonely for the rest of your life.”

“What if he doesn’t want your leftovers?” Wen asked sarcastically. “Don’t you claim to have been with half the girls in town already?”

“You’re just jealous,” Shubao snapped. “If you weren’t so short, you might get a second look.”

“For your information, I got a flower from Yi Ran yesterday after I helped her and her mom in the market,” Wen said mulishly.

“ You should be giving her flowers, dummy,” Shubao retorted. “What kind of a man are you?”

“Maybe I just don’t need to have lots and lots of girls,” Wen said. “He who eats too many sweets becomes sick of the taste.”

“He who eats only porridge and calls himself a lord is a fool,” Shubao retorted. Wen got to his feet, and the two of them ended up wrestling over Yi Ran’s honor. Shubao won, but magnanimously acknowledged that Yi Ran was indeed very pretty, which at least satisfied Wen. Haru simply let out a melancholy sigh, and changed the subject.

Still, when the heat of summer settled in, he decided enough was enough, and maybe Shubao had a point. Zuko had been gone for months, and it was time to move on.

Chapter 8: In Circles

漫無目的 (màn wú mù dì): to be without a goal; aimless

 

Haru’s first attempt to court one of the village girls ended in failure.

He picked some flowers on his way into the market to sell some vegetables from the garden, and tried giving them to the girl whose father raised pygmy duckens. She laughed at him, and, red-faced, he retreated in shame. Shubao and Wen did their best to cheer him up, and a week later he tried again.

 

His second courting attempt went much better. Wen advised him that not just any flowers would work; he needed to choose ones with bright colors, or find a flower that suited the girl he was trying to court. At that point in the summer, there were only a few varieties of wildflower left, but Haru found a pale yellow one and gave it to the daughter of an ostrich horse farmer who lived near Shubao.

“Here,” he said, presenting it to her. “I wanted to give you this, because it’s pretty, just like you.”

“Thank you,” she said, giggling at his awkward manner. “You’re Haru, right?”

“Yes,” he said. 

“I’ve seen you working in the fields. You are very strong.”

“I, uh, yes,” he said, puffing his chest out. “I am quite strong, as you can see.”

“You wouldn’t mind helping me, would you?” she said, indicating the baskets of grain she was carrying.

“No, not at all,” Haru said, and took the heavy baskets from her.

They walked all the way back to her home, making shallow observations. Haru wasn’t sure how he should talk to her. If he was with Zuko, then they might get into a heated discussion about whether the summer heat in the Fire Nation was worse than in Xiaoshi. They might compare dumplings that they ate in the village or in Dan Duan against ones that Zuko had tried in Capital City or Ember Island. They might get into arguments about the war, although Haru only knew rumors about the grand battles happening elsewhere in the Earth Kingdom, and Zuko for his part wasn’t able to confirm or deny any of them. Or, if they had nothing to talk about, they would tease each other until Haru wasn’t sure whether he wanted to kill Zuko or find other ways to make him shut up.

“Thanks for your help, Haru,” the girl said when they arrived at her house, snapping Haru out of his distracted state. “And thank you for the flower.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, and lamely walked away without further comment. Later, when he told his friends what happened, Shubao was quick to express his disappointment.

“No, no, you’re doing this all wrong,” he said. “It’s not manly and romantic to carry grain for a working girl. You need to find a delicate beauty who you can sweep off her feet.”

“I thought she was pretty,” Haru said, frowning. This was more challenging than he had anticipated. Shubao sighed in exasperation.

“What would you do without me to help you?” he asked. Wen rolled his eyes, but had nothing to say. Yi Ran had ditched him for bringing her a gift she didn’t like, and Shubao had not let him forget it.

 

Autumn came, and the mayor announced a grain tax increase, the third one in as many years. Rice and wheat became more expensive, and so, too, did the price of meat. Haru’s mom and the neighbor women began pickling and preserving vegetables early, and Haru went out a few times a week to give the extra jars to village elders. Everyone was tightening their belts in preparation for a hard winter.

During one of these outings, he happened to meet a girl with fair features and long, black hair. She was a ‘delicate beauty’, as Shubao would have put it, the granddaughter of an old couple who were related to his mom’s friend’s in-laws. She caught up to him as he was leaving her grandparents’ house, and handed him a box of rice cakes with walnuts.

“Please take this,” she said, smiling at him and tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Haru’s chest thumped. “As thanks for your kindness.”

“Oh, no, my mom did all the work,” Haru stammered.

“Then please tell her thank you from me,” the girl said, and then ran back inside, leaving Haru rooted to the spot outside her gate, stunned.

He went back again a few days later, and found her drawing water from the well in the front yard.

“Oh, let me help you,” he said. She smiled prettily at him, and that same jolt that he felt last time struck him again. She did not invite him inside, however, because she was taking care of her grandparents and they needed her help.

“By the way, what’s your name?” Haru asked.

“Ai,” she said.

“Ai,” he repeated, sounding it out. It was good to say. “I’m Haru.”

“I know,” she said, giggling.

“May I come see you again?” Haru asked.

“You may,” Ai said, and then went inside.

 

Heavy rain ruined the harvest, and a sickness spread through the village as the cold began to set in. Haru was bedridden for two weeks, his only sources of comfort being his mom and the jar of sea glass. The first thing he did once he was well again was attend the funeral of Wen’s uncle.

It was a small affair at the uncle’s house. Wen didn’t have many other family members left in the village—only his aunt and an older cousin who had not joined in the rebellion three years ago. His aunt could have afforded to erect a mound for her husband, but the Fire Nation had banned such practices, claiming dissidents could use them to stash weapons. Haru and Shubao did what they could to comfort Wen, but he would not be consoled.

“What happened?” Haru asked later, as he and Shubao walked home.

“A drunk ashmaker soldier started a fight outside their house,” Shubao said darkly. “Hit Wen’s uncle on the head. They just left him there.”

“What about the soldier?” Haru asked, fists curling.

“He was caned,” Shubao scoffed. “For public drunkenness and disorderly conduct.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

Later that night, his thoughts returned to Zuko. Where was he now? He remembered Zuko’s words to him that night in Dan Duan: “Haru, if one of my people bothers you, you have to tell me.” He wondered what Zuko would have done, if he heard about Wen’s uncle. But the what-if scenarios did nothing to ease his sense of powerlessness in the face of Wen’s loss, or fill the hollowness of Zuko’s absence. He rolled over and pulled the covers up over his eyes, so that the light of the half-moon couldn’t accuse him with its glare.

 

It was winter, and Haru was walking with Ai by a pond near her grandparents’ house. The grass was brown, and many of the trees were bare. They held hands, which was about as far as Haru had managed to get. Ai was in no rush, and Haru found he wasn’t, either. A murmuration of wagtail sparrows took flight, startling them both. They watched as the birds wheeled and danced through the air over the surface of the water. Haru laughed.

“What is it?” Ai asked.

“I was just thinking of something,” he said.

“Tell me,” she said, beaming.

“Oh, I had a friend once,” Haru said, thinking of Zuko. He imagined him standing next to the two of them, arms folded and watching the birds with an angry gaze. Haru gestured at the pond. “He would have complained that the birds were too noisy.”

“He sounds rather joyless,” Ai said. “I quite like the birds.”

“He wasn’t joyless,” Haru said, shaking his head. “Actually, he used to collect sea glass.”

“How pretty!” Ai said. “I’ve always wanted to go hunting for sea glass at the beach.”

“Yeah,” Haru said, absently, staring into the middle distance.

“What’s the matter?” Ai asked.

“Oh, um,” Haru said, quickly swiping his thumb over his eyes. “Nothing. Shall we go back?”

“I am starting to get cold,” Ai admitted, drawing in close to him. Haru looked deep into her eyes, anticipation building in his gut.

“May I kiss you?” he asked. Ai simply closed her eyes. He leaned forward and pushed their lips together.

They were soft, a little cold, a little wet, and when he pulled back he felt…dissatisfied. Ai’s eyes had fluttered closed, and she let out a happy sigh. Haru smiled down at her. It was the first kiss, after all, it didn’t have to be perfect. He walked her home and kissed her again at the door, no more than a quick peck on the lips. He liked the second one better, and resolved to make more opportunities to kiss her in the future.

 

Haru did not neglect his earthbending. When he could find time, he slipped away to his usual secret spots to practice the forms he’d learned from his master in Dan Duan. While the old potter admitted his focus was more on shaping clay than moving rock or dirt, he taught enough basics that Haru felt confident he could figure out the rest just as before.

“Alright, focus,” Haru said to himself, dropping into a horse stance. “Keep your feet rooted in the earth. Keep your center close to the ground. It’s about strength.”

He took a deep breath, in and out. Extending his chi, he lifted a boulder in a slow, controlled movement.

“Breathe through the form.”

He couched his fist, stepped forward, and punched. The boulder rocketed into the wall of the practice gulch, shattering on impact. Haru whooped, then clapped his hand over his mouth. No one came to investigate, however, so he moved on to the next form.

Using his arms, he picked up the shards of the boulder and compressed them together, trying to force the boulder back into a single object again. An hour of trying, however, saw no results. Frustrated, he lashed out, tossing rocks into the trees and growling angrily.

He flopped onto the ground, exhausted. It was getting dark, and time to head home, but he didn’t want to move. His vision blurred. Tears ran down his cheeks. He missed his dad, who would surely have taught him how to do this properly. He was angry with the Fire Nation for taking him away, and killing Wen’s uncle, and taking their grain, and, and…

He missed Zuko.

“Uncle once told me that power in firebending comes from the breath,” Zuko had once said. “Breath is energy. It becomes fire when I release it like this!”

Zuko’s movements were powerful, but fluid, not solid like the motions Haru had been taught. Fire could move around obstacles, while earth moved through. But that element of breath remained. Somehow it was like Zuko was still with him when he was earthbending.

“Firebenders can use anger to burn hotter flames,” Zuko had said. “I bet if you were mad, you could move heavier rocks. Wanna try it?”

“Don’t try to make me mad, Zuko, please,” Haru had said.

“Who says I have to try?” Zuko had retorted. Haru’s response had been to shove him into a pond.

Haru laughed at the memory, and his tears came down harder. He hadn’t moved on at all. He’d only been going in circles. Standing up, he wiped his eyes dry at last and made a resolution to himself: by spring, he would forget about Zuko. He would bury his feelings and just focus on what was in front of him, which was Ai, and his mom, and his friends.

Chapter 9: The Lost Year

四海為家 (sì hǎi wéi jiā): to regard the four corners of the world as home

 

Spring came again. Haru turned 15. His mom made him a meager meal using what remained of their winter preserves, but it was delicious and warm. After helping her clean up, he ran to the door.

“Bye, mom! I’m going to see Ai today!” he called.

“Be safe, Haru!” His mom called after him.

Haru had a happy skip in his step as he went, running his hands through the blooming wildflowers that grew along the road. He went towards the village, turning left on the road that led to the new iron mine and then right again on the road to the market. The weather had been exceptionally clear, and that meant the roads were good. Merchants often stopped in Xiaoshi on their way to Dan Duan or Fasong, and there was always something new to see at the market. Haru thought of buying a small gift for Ai, but while he was perusing the wares of the various stalls in the square he was arrested by a familiar voice.

“Haru.”

His neck cracked as he turned to see Zuko. He had changed in the last year: he was slightly taller, more broad in the shoulder, and his face had none of the soft baby fat that Haru remembered. He wore a wide-brimmed horsehair hat and a long, red coat, looking every bit like a well-to-do merchant, except for the dao that hung from his belt next to a purse and a paper scroll case.

Zuko was smiling. Haru’s chest thumped hard.

His feet moved before his mind could spur them on. He crashed into Zuko and lifted him off his feet. Zuko gasped, winded, and made a half-hearted attempt to escape as Haru joyfully spun him around.

“You came back!” Haru said, setting him down. Zuko rearranged his coat, checking the scroll case for damage. Haru felt a surge of pride, which only widened his grin.

“Yeah,” Zuko said. “I made a promise.”

“When did you arrive?”

“Yesterday,” Zuko said. “I’m staying at the inn on the road to Fasong. I even have my own room.”

“You look…really good, Zuko,” Haru said, taking in his outfit and appearance once again.

“Do you have some time this evening?” Zuko asked. “Let me treat you to dinner.”

“Okay,” Haru said. “But, um, I can make time earlier if you like.”

“No, I’m supposed to be working,” Zuko said. “I only came over because I saw you and I wanted to say…”

Zuko paused for effect, and then spread his arms out, putting his whole figure on display for Haru.

“Happy birthday.”

Heat crept up Haru’s cheeks and his mind fogged over as his reason and his desire clashed. Zuko smirked, and the dimple that formed sent blood rushing around his body. Suddenly, it clicked.

“Zuko, you buffalo pig’s warty ass, you can’t be the present!” he cried, punching Zuko on the shoulder. Zuko laughed, full-throated and open in a way Haru had never heard before. It rang like bells in his ears. Zuko withdrew a small lacquer box from inside his coat and handed it to him.

“Unlike you, I can afford to give my friends proper gifts,” he said smugly.

“Yeah, sure, go ahead and laugh,” Haru scoffed. “I see you still have my scroll case.”

“Don’t open it here,” Zuko said, as Haru pawed at the clasp on the box. “Trust me.”

“Okay,” Haru said, stashing it. He was suddenly conscious of other people staring at him.

“Anyway, tonight?” Zuko said, hopefully. “At the inn?”

“I’ll see you there,” Haru said. Zuko nodded, and turned on his heel. Haru watched him go to a stall where an older merchant was selling bottles of oil and jars of spices. As tempting as it was to bother him at work, Haru’s curiosity about the present was greater than his desire for shenanigans. He rushed back home as quickly as prudence would allow.

“Haru? Are you back already?” His mom was weeding the garden. “How’s Ai?”

“Oh, uh,” Haru said, remembering his initial hurry to go out. “Something came up. I’ll see her tomorrow.”

“Alright,” his mom said and returned to her work. “Come and help me in the garden, then.”

“Okay, give me a minute,” he said, and ran inside.

He sat down on his bed with the lacquer box. He took a preparatory breath, steeling his nerves, and then opened it. Inside, wrapped in a silk cloth, was a bar of soap carved in the shape of a badgermole. He picked it up and gave it a sniff: it had the scent of some sort of earthy plant, with floral notes on top. Beneath the soap was a brick of green tea, which made Haru’s eyes pop. Everything about this gift was expensive.

Tucked into the lid of the box was a note, written in what must have been Zuko’s own hand:

Haru,

Uncle always said the best way to end the day was with a clean mind and body. The soap is from Hu Xin, and is best for cleansing the dirt and woes of a long day’s labor. The tea is from a plantation in Yi, and can relieve aches and pains. I’ll show you how to brew it properly. This is a poor way to repay you for saving my life, but I hope you accept it for the time being.

Zuko

Haru put the box aside, trying to repress a grin. A plan formed in his mind: he’d help his mom, go to practice his earthbending, and then, before going to dinner at the inn, he’d wash with the new soap to get the full effect. He shoved the box and the note under his pillow and went out to the garden, a spring in his step anew.

 

The Fasong road inn was a single-storey structure built around a small central courtyard where men and women drank and chatted. Haru, dressed in the nicest green clothes he could find, saw Zuko leaning against the outside gate with his arms crossed. He was brooding, eyes fixed on a distant mountain illuminated by the sunset.

“Hey!” Haru called, waving. Zuko straightened up, smiling.

“Hi,” he said. “Are you hungry?”

“Starving,” Haru said, patting his belly.

They went inside and found a pair of empty seats across from each other in a less raucous part of the crowded dining room. Zuko ordered them both big bowls of spicy noodles, which came with side dishes and a small bottle of rice wine. It was a richer meal than Haru had enjoyed in recent memory, and he had to force himself to eat slowly so as not to get sick.

“That was amazing,” he said, finishing off his bowl.

“It’s thanks to the merchants,” Zuko said, nodding to a nearby table. “They have a deal with the inn: cheaper rooms in exchange for things like salt and spices.”

“You talk like you’re not one of them,” Haru teased. Zuko rolled his eyes.

“I’m not,” he said. “I’m just an assistant.”

“Wearing finer clothes than I’ve ever worn,” Haru pointed out.

“I heard rumors,” Zuko said. “The other merchants were talking. Have you been well?”

“It’s been hard,” Haru said. “We didn’t have a good harvest this year. But I’m okay.”

“And your mom?”

Haru nodded, and Zuko relaxed a little. He flagged down the server to take their bowls away.

“Where did you go?” Haru asked. It was more than feigned idle curiosity, and hid Haru’s real question: are you going to leave again? Zuko opened the scroll case and took out a paper map of the world. The edges were stained with finger oils, and some of the finer lines were faded.

“I went looking for the Avatar, of course,” Zuko said, tracing his path with a finger. “South, through the Earth Kingdom to Whaletail Island and the Patola Mountains. East, by sea, to Crab Claw Peninsula and the Eastern Air Islands. North, across the Si Wong Desert and the Great Lakes to the Taihua Mountains. And then, I came back here.”

“You did all of that in a year!?” Haru gasped. Zuko nodded. “What did you find?”

“Nothing,” Zuko said with a grimace. “Not a single clue.”

His tired eyes and hunched posture filled Haru with pity. The dining room was emptying out as folks went back to their rooms or went into town to drink. Haru got to his feet and held a hand out to Zuko.

“Walk with me,” he said. Zuko rolled up his map, and then took Haru’s hand with a curious expression.

They walked aimlessly through the dark countryside. Frogs peeped, masking their footsteps. Zuko lit their way with a small flame that he held in his palm. They didn’t speak for some time. Haru stopped on the road near a fallow field. They were alone, far enough from even the nearest home that anything could happen and no one would see or hear.

“Why didn’t you visit before?” he asked, finally letting go of Zuko’s hand. “Why did you make me wait a year for you to come back?”

“I couldn’t do it anymore,” Zuko said. Haru, already feeling tense and raw from his own trepidations, was shocked to hear the hollowness in Zuko’s voice. “It’s so much worse out there, Haru. What the Fire Nation is doing to the world… I’ve seen things I wish I hadn’t.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

Zuko simply shook his head.

“At first, I was searching for the Avatar because it was the only way for me to get home,” he said, looking out over the field. “Then I was searching for him because he allowed this war to happen. But there was nothing: no clues, no traces. He just vanished into thin air.”

He let out a shuddering sigh.

“Without the Avatar, I can’t restore my honor,” he said. “But at this point, I don’t know if I even want to. They told us the war was to liberate the Earth Kingdom, to bring its people into enlightenment. But everywhere I went, there was only terror and destruction. What use is my honor if the price I pay for it is dooming the world to more pain?”

Haru could no longer stand it. He brushed Zuko’s lit hand aside and pulled him into a strong embrace. The fire died, and Zuko returned the hug, fingers digging into Haru’s back. They stood like that in the dark under the moon. Frogs peeped, and a few crickets chirped.

“I was worried what my people might do to you,” Zuko said. “I wanted to make sure you were still okay.”

“My father is gone,” Haru said. “The Fire Nation raised grain taxes. People starved this winter. My friend’s uncle was killed and they didn’t do anything about it. I’m not okay, Zuko.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have returned sooner.”

Haru simply buried his face in the crook of Zuko’s neck. The scent of his soap did not entirely mask notes of pepper and mineral oil. He breathed deeply and greedily, memorizing every bit of Zuko his senses could register.

“We should go back,” he said, reluctantly pulling back. Zuko took his hand, and off they went with only the moonlight to guide them.

 

It was late when they returned to the inn. Zuko paused at the door to his room, considering something. Haru waited, half fearful and half hoping that Zuko would invite him inside.

“I have to help Iida at the market for a few more days,” Zuko said at last. “He wants us to move on to Fasong next. When can I see you again?”

“You’re not staying?” Haru asked.

“I… I don’t know,” Zuko admitted. “Do you want me to stay?”

“I never wanted you to leave in the first place!” Haru exclaimed. Zuko shushed him, nodding at the other rooms nearby. The walls were thin, and they could hear snoring nearby.

“Come to the market tomorrow,” Zuko said.

“Okay,” Haru said, his heart soaring even as it plummeted to the ground. “I’ll go as soon as I can.”

“I’ll wait for you.”

“Do you promise?” Haru asked. Zuko scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“Have I ever broken a promise to you?” he said. Haru grinned.

“Good,” he said. “Good night, Zuko.”

“Good night, Haru.”

Haru walked until the lantern over the inn’s gate was out of sight. Then he ran into the middle of a field and jumped for joy. He cheered into the night sky, and then fell back onto the dirt and let the wheel of the cosmos spin overhead. Zuko was back and wanted to see him! He could have flown. 

But Zuko would leave again in a few days.

He wanted to be buried in rock.

Haru sat up, formulating a new plan. He would have to find a way to make Zuko stay this time. Ruminating on the possibilities, he made his way back home, dusting himself off so that his mom wouldn’t get mad at him for staying out late and making her do more laundry.

Chapter 10: His Scar

沉魚落雁 (chén yú luò yàn): fish sink, goose alights; captivating beauty

 

The market was not very busy when Haru arrived the next morning. Most of the merchants were clustered in a group near the tavern, drinking and waiting for someone to approach their wares. Zuko was sitting behind a stall reading a small book. He wore the same hat as yesterday.

“Good morning, sir,” Haru said in the poshest accent he could manage. “I wish to peruse your wares.”

Zuko glanced up, snorted, and closed his book with a snap.

“Does the honored customer have a problem with his eyes?” he asked, gesturing with the book. Haru gasped.

“How uncouth! I shall be speaking to your master about this,” he said. “I am a paying customer, and I expect to be treated with respect!”

Zuko burst out laughing, the same full, open laugh that Haru had heard the night before. He got to his feet and leaned over the stall.

“Hey,” he said, and Haru momentarily forgot how to speak.

“Hi,” he managed. Zuko raised an eyebrow at him. “Why are you wearing that hat, by the way?”

“It’s a normal merchant hat,” Zuko said.

“I know, but you never wore hats before,” Haru said. Zuko clicked his tongue.

“You still ask annoying questions,” he said. “So some things haven’t changed.”

“Well, I’m not entirely the same,” Haru retorted, and then rolled up his sleeve to show Zuko the muscles he had built. “See? I’ve gotten a lot stronger.”

“Impressive,” Zuko said, not sounding even slightly impressed. “I take it this means you haven’t been neglecting your training.”

“If you mean, have I been practicing, then yes, I have,” Haru said. “I’ll be happy to show you.”

“Later,” Zuko said, looking past him and straightening up. “Good morning, honored customer.”

“Good morning, sir.”

Haru jumped at the sound of Ai’s voice. She was carrying a basket, which already had a few shopping items in it. As easily as if they had been doing it for years, she slid her hand onto Haru’s arm, smiling up at him.

“Hello, Haru,” she said. “Where were you yesterday?”

“Oh, uh,” Haru said, looking between her and Zuko, whose face was unreadable. “I had to help my mom with her garden. It took all day.”

“I see,” Ai said with a hum. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Zuko frowning. “Well, I’m glad I found you. I was hoping to spend some time with you today, just the two of us.”

“Oh, of course!” Haru said, smiling a bit too widely. “Do you need some help with your shopping?”

“I would like that,” she said. “How about you? Were you looking for something here?”

“Ah, yes,” Haru said, quickly looking at Zuko’s stall. “I needed some, uh…”

“We were discussing the price for sesame oil by the bottle,” Zuko said.

“Right! Sesame oil,” Haru said, nodding. “Tell you what, Ai, how about I finish up here and then meet you in a few minutes?”

“Alright,” Ai said. “Don’t keep me waiting too long this time.”

Haru watched her go, and could not contain his wistful sigh. Behind him, Zuko cleared his throat.

“Looks like you have plans after all,” he said. Haru’s face fell, but Zuko didn’t appear overtly perturbed.

“Yeah, sorry…” he said. “Um. When do you finish here?”

“When the market closes, or when we run out of stock,” Zuko said, looking around. There were more guards and merchants in the market today than actual shoppers. “We probably won’t run out, though.”

“Okay,” Haru said. “Come to the copper mine later.”

“I’ll be there,” Zuko said.

Haru dithered for a few more moments before he decided he could not put off meeting with Ai any longer. He found her by the entrance to the market, her shopping basket full. Instinctively, he took the basket from her and offered her his free arm.

“Didn’t you buy anything?” she asked.

“It was too expensive,” Haru said, shaking his head.

“Pity,” Ai said, and the two of them walked the slow, meandering path back to her grandparents’ house.

 

Haru was practicing earthbending when Zuko arrived at the copper mine in the late afternoon. He had stripped down to just his trousers, leaving his shirt and jacket folded on a nearby rock. Even though the early spring air was still cool, he had worked up a sweat. When Zuko announced his presence by clearing his throat, Haru relaxed his stance.

“Good form,” Zuko said, nodding to the boulder Haru had been moving. He had changed clothes since that morning, opting for a black jacket with yellow embroidery. He still wore the hat, which was beginning to bother Haru.

“Thanks,” Haru said, stretching out his arms and shoulders for Zuko’s benefit. He shifted into a ready stance, one that Zuko had taught him a year ago. “Wanna see what else I’ve learned?”

Zuko smirked, and shucked his jacket. He placed it neatly on the rock near Haru’s clothes, and then took his position on the field.

“I won’t go easy on you,” he said. Haru’s neck grew hot.

Their first sparring match was no contest. Zuko won handily, after letting Haru show off a few moves. He had gotten more agile in his year of traveling, and his bending form had changed. Haru couldn’t quite put his finger on how, and once Zuko decided to go on the offensive he was taken down in three moves.

“Hey!” he said, rolling over to look up at Zuko’s smug face. “Rematch.”

He smacked the ground, throwing up the earth under Zuko’s feet. Zuko rolled—badly—but somehow managed to keep his hat on. Haru growled in frustration, and went on the attack. They went back and forth by the edge of the water until Haru broke Zuko’s root and pinned him down. They stared at each other, chests heaving, until Haru stood back and helped Zuko up.

“Again,” Zuko said, almost grinning.

The sun was setting behind the mountain when they finally stopped. Haru lay on the dusty ground, exhausted but euphoric, like how he often felt after a particularly satisfying training. Zuko was splayed out nearby.

“I’m going to need a new hat,” he groused, sitting up and fussing at his hat’s bent brim.

“Shouldn’t have worn it sparring,” Haru shot back. Zuko clicked his tongue and finally took it off, as well as the cap beneath it that secured his hair. His head was still shaved except for the patch on top, which was now queued instead of tied up in a phoenix tail. Zuko took a moment to un-queue it, and then began to strip.

“What are you doing?” Haru asked.

“I’m sweaty,” Zuko said, untying his belt. “So I’m going to wash off.”

“Oh, right,” Haru said, and then shucked his pants.

The quarry lake was frigid. They jumped in and out as fast as they could, and stood shivering and naked in the evening air. They exchanged looks.

“I have an idea,” Zuko said.

He instructed Haru to gouge out a small basin next to the lake, and then create a channel to allow the water to flow in until it was full. Zuko lowered himself into it, and then focused his firebending to bring the water up to almost a boil. He let out a sigh and relaxed against the side of the improvised hot spring.

“Get in,” he said.

Haru did so, sitting across from Zuko so he could enjoy the view. The aches and pains in his muscles were soothed, and he stretched out until his feet encountered Zuko’s leg. Zuko kicked him.

“Sorry,” Haru said, wincing.

“Watch where you’re putting your feet,” Zuko said, also stretching out. Their legs became tangled under the water anyway, since the pool wasn’t very wide. Zuko periodically breathed more fire onto it to keep it warm. The stars began to appear, and Haru felt at peace.

“Hey,” Zuko said. “Who was that girl at the market?”

Haru’s peace was interrupted.

“That was Ai,” he said.

“You two seemed very close,” Zuko remarked. It was difficult to read his expression in the dark. Haru wished they had candles or a lamp to see by.

“I’ve been courting her,” Haru said, and it felt like an admission of guilt. “She’s quite nice.”

“That’s good.”

Haru waited for him to say more, but instead all he heard was Zuko’s slow breathing and a chorus of crickets from the forest.

“Hey, um. Have you ever…courted anyone?” Haru asked.

“I guess so,” Zuko said. “There was one girl I liked back in the Fire Nation, but we were just kids then.”

“What about when you were traveling?” Haru asked. He tried picturing Zuko with a girl in fine, noble dress, but his mind refused. Zuko clicked his tongue.

“I was hunting for the Avatar,” he said. “I didn’t have time for anything like that.”

“But there must have been people you liked,” Haru pressed. “What’s your type? Do you like delicate beauties? Actually, I bet you like girls with fiery personalities, like yours.”

Zuko snorted with laughter.

“You think I have a fiery personality?” he said.

“I’m being polite,” Haru said with a shrug. “Would you rather I called you mean and ugly?”

“You don’t think I’m ugly,” Zuko said, and the ease and confidence with which he said it made Haru’s heart skip.

“How do you know?” he asked.

“Alright,” Zuko said, and produced a flame in his hand, illuminating his face and upper body. “What about me is ugly? And you can’t say my scar.”

“Fine, I won’t talk about the big red spot on your face,” Haru huffed. In the flickering firelight, he drank in Zuko’s appearance. The more he looked, however, the more smug Zuko became. He folded his arms and tore his eyes away, blushing. “Fine, you win. You’re good-looking. But your haircut is stupid.”

Zuko splashed him with lukewarm water, and took a minute to reheat the pool.

“I cut my hair like this after I lost my honor,” he said.

“But why?”

“Because of how it happened,” Zuko said. “I was in an Agni Kai, and I lost.”

“What’s an Agni Kai?” Haru asked.

“It’s an honor duel,” Zuko said. “And because I lost, I cut my hair. In the Fire Nation, if you are a criminal, they shave your head, but if you lose your honor in a duel, you may keep the top knot.”

“So that’s why,” Haru said. He did some quick calculations in his head. “How old were you? You must’ve been just a kid at the time. Why were you fighting in an honor duel?”

“I was 13,” Zuko said. “And I spoke out of turn in my Father’s war room. One of the generals proposed a plan that would have resulted in needless slaughter. Because I objected when it wasn’t my place to speak, my Father demanded satisfaction. I thought he was doing so on the general’s behalf. It would be improper for a mere general to directly challenge the Fire Prince, after all.”

Haru sucked in his breath.

“You said your father gave you that scar,” he said. “You had to fight him in an honor duel?”

“I refused to fight,” Zuko said bitterly. “He was my Father. How could he have expected me to raise my hand against him? But he did, and when I didn’t fight back, he banished me.”

Haru bit his lip, but then moved around the pool so he was sitting next to Zuko. Wordlessly, he gently reached up and guided Zuko’s head down to his shoulder, holding him close. Zuko allowed it, shifting to be more comfortable.

“Don’t be mad,” Haru said. “But why would you want to go back after that?”

“Well, how would you feel if your mom cut your hair and kicked you out, saying don’t come back until you proved yourself?” Zuko demanded, sitting up to glare at Haru. Their faces were almost too close. Haru took another breath.

“I don’t know!” he said. “Probably…probably really awful. I’d probably want to do whatever it took to get back, too. But I love my mom, and she’s really kind and takes care of me! Everything you’ve told me about your dad makes me think he’s just a terrible person.”

Zuko growled in frustration, but then flopped back against the side of the pool. Their shoulders were still touching, and Haru’s blood was pooling in his groin.

“He wasn’t always like that,” he said.

“Don’t try and defend the Fire Lord to me,” Haru retorted, trying his best not to focus on the fact that he and Zuko were almost pressed side by side together, naked, alone, under the light of the stars and moon. “He’s the reason my dad’s gone.”

“...sorry,” Zuko said, shifting away. Haru’s side felt suddenly cold. Zuko got up, the contours of his back and butt softly lit, rivulets of water flowing down them. Haru gulped. “We should get back. It’s getting cold.”

“...yeah, uh, give me a second,” Haru said. Zuko looked down at him, and raised an eyebrow. Haru splashed in the water, as if he was washing himself off. Zuko clicked his tongue, got out of the pool, and dried himself off with his firebending. Then he went and got dressed while Haru waited until his “little brother,” as Shubao would have called it, had calmed down.

Chapter 11: Borrowing Time

依依不捨 (yī yī bù shě): reluctant to part; broken-hearted at having to leave

 

This time, Zuko dropped Haru off at his house. The light in the main room was on, and Haru knew he was going to be in trouble. Still, he delayed.

“Will you have time tomorrow?” he asked, turning back to Zuko.

“I will be at the market, as usual,” Zuko replied.

“How about I bring you lunch,” Haru offered. Zuko frowned.

“Iida has been ordering food from the noodle shop,” he said.

“Then come over for dinner,” Haru said. “I’ll talk to my mom about it.”

“Haru,” Zuko said, fidgeting with his bent hat. “Why did you lie to Ai at the market?”

“Huh?”

“She said you were supposed to meet yesterday, and you spun some story about gardening,” Zuko said. “She might have believed it, but it was obvious.”

“Hey now, what makes you so sure?” Haru demanded.

“You stammer when you’re flustered,” Zuko said. “And you get flustered when you’re trying to hide something. What were you really doing yesterday?”

“You know what I was doing yesterday,” Haru said, flushing. Zuko blinked, eyes wide.

“Don’t tell me,” he said. “You skipped meeting her to spend time with me?”

“Well…yeah,” Haru said.

“Okay, look,” Zuko sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re courting her, right? I’m not going to tell you how to conduct your own relationships, but if it was me I wouldn’t waste my time with someone who’d break their word and go behind my back like that.”

“You’re right,” Haru said, abashed.

“Did you promise to meet her tomorrow?” Zuko asked.

“Yeah,” Haru said.

“When?”

“I didn’t tell her a specific time,” Haru said. “I usually visit when I’m free. But Zuko, listen. You said yourself that you’re probably going to be leaving soon. Of course I want to spend as much time with you as I can before you go!”

“Be that as it may,” Zuko said. “I won’t be happy with you, either, if you break your promises just to see me.”

“Is this an honor thing?” Haru asked, feeling snippy. “Because you told me you lost yours.”

“This isn’t about honor,” Zuko snapped. “This is about being a decent person to someone you love.”

“I don’t love her,” Haru retorted.

“Then why are you courting her?” Zuko yelled.

“Because she’s here, Zuko!” Haru yelled back. “This is my home, and if I want to be happy with it, then I have to take what I can get! I’m lucky enough that Ai is pretty, and kind, and she wouldn’t leave me alone just to chase after some fantasy!”

Zuko’s nostrils flared, but Haru was too worked up to care.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Zuko demanded.

“I don’t know,” Haru said. “You figure it out.”

He turned on his heel and stormed away, ignoring anything Zuko might have called out to him as he went. He slammed the door behind him. His mom was asleep at the table, a single candle burning low next to her. Haru sighed, letting some of his anger seep out. The whole evening had been an emotionally-draining minecart ride.

“Mom, wake up,” he said, gently shaking his mother awake.

“Haru?” she said, blinking blearily up at him. “Oh, you’re back. Sorry, I must have fallen asleep. Are you hungry? Shall I make you something?”

“No, that’s okay, mom,” Haru said. “You should go to bed.”

“Did you eat with Ai?” his mom asked.

“Yes,” Haru lied. “I’m going to visit her again tomorrow.”

“Tell me before you go,” his mom said. “I’d like to give her mother some herbs from the garden.”

“Okay, mom,” Haru said, guiding her to her room. “Goodnight!”

“Goodnight, Haru,” she said, sliding the door shut.

Haru sat down on his bed to ruminate for a while. His stomach growled loudly as he replayed the day’s events in his mind. He didn’t want to go to bed hungry, nor did he want to go to bed mad at Zuko (or have Zuko still be mad at him).

“If I want him to stay, I shouldn’t hide things,” Haru said to his jar of seaglass. “So I need to apologize and clear the air. As for Ai…”

If it was a choice between Zuko and Ai, Haru already knew who he would choose. Quickly changing clothes, he crept back out to the main room and swiped some of the money his mom kept in a hidden purse in the kitchen. Then he left quietly into the night.

 

The Fasong road inn was still somewhat lively at this hour. Haru went to the dining room, but couldn’t see Zuko. He ordered a bowl of noodles to sate his hunger, and then went to knock on Zuko’s door.

“Who is it?” Zuko called.

“It’s me,” Haru said.

The door slid open, and Zuko glared out at him.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have tried to hide things.”

Zuko sighed.

“Come in,” he said, stepping aside to make room for Haru. The room was small and sparsely furnished, with enough space to fit three people comfortably. The fact that Zuko didn’t have to share spoke to either the generosity of his Master Iida or the lack of customers currently in residence.

“Does Master Iida know you’re the Fire Prince?” Haru asked, sitting on the floor next to Zuko’s bedroll.

“No, he does not,” Zuko said. “Being the Fire Prince often attracts the wrong kind of attention.”

“Right,” Haru said. He knew he was stalling, so he took a breath and went for it. Zuko beat him to it, however.

“I should apologize first,” he said. “It was presumptuous of me to try and meddle in your affairs.”

“What?” Haru was confused by this.

“I just thought…” Zuko said, a pained look on his face. “You used to joke that we were like brothers, and I guess… I began to think like that, too, in a way. And today felt so much like how we were back then, I almost forgot that we weren’t actually family.”

Haru felt moisture in the corners of his eyes.

“Zuko, I missed you so much,” Haru said, wiping his face with his hand. “But that’s not an excuse. You’re right. I need to keep my promises, and I shouldn’t hide things from people I care about.”

“Well, then be honest next time,” Zuko said.

“I will,” Haru replied, holding out his pinky. Zuko scoffed, but sealed the promise.

“So childish,” Zuko said.

“We’re still kids, you know,” Haru replied. “My friend Shubao can already grow a beard. I’ve never even gotten so much as a single hair on my chin!”

“No, your hair grew in somewhere else,” Zuko snickered even as his ears turned pink. Haru, red in the face, simply stared at him aghast.

“Well! You! Shut up!”

“Why are you getting embarrassed? It’s not like there’s anything left that either of us haven’t seen,” Zuko said.

“I don’t know, it’s just weird!” Haru said. “I haven’t seen Shubao or Wen naked, you know!”

“Earth Kingdom prude,” Zuko said, shaking his head.

“Fire Nation pervert,” Haru retorted.

They both laughed, and the tension broke. They bantered for a bit longer before Haru decided he should leave before he did something he would truly regret.

“Tomorrow,” he said. “I will meet Ai, but then I want to see you again.”

“You know where to find me,” Zuko said. “If I’m not at the market, I’ll be here.”

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow,” Haru said. Zuko nodded, and saw him out. 

 

Zuko stayed in Xiaoshi for four more days, and Haru spent each of them finding every excuse he could to stay by Zuko’s side. He remained a dutiful son, of course, and helped his mom take care of the house. He was in the fields with Shubao’s family pulling weeds and sowing seeds. He visited Ai every day to share a meal and simply be with her. They kissed each other hello and goodbye now, and Haru was growing more and more fond of kissing. He often wondered what it would be like to kiss Zuko.

 

He and Zuko went to the beach on a clear afternoon, picking through flotsam on the sand for treasures and skipping rocks over the waves. They swam naked in the cold sea, and found tide pools full of mollusks. Zuko knew the names of most of them, and Haru felt both awed at his apparent wisdom and anxious over the gulf that sat between them. Zuko was educated, and Haru was not. Zuko was well-traveled, and Haru was not.

“What’s your favorite beach?” Haru asked as they lay on a dune and watched the sunset over the ocean.

“Ember Island,” Zuko said immediately.

“Favorite beach not in the Fire Nation,” Haru said.

“There was a beach in the Eastern Sea,” Zuko said after thinking about it. “The sand was pink and the water was topaz blue.”

“No way,” Haru said.

“It’s true,” Zuko replied. “I don’t know why. But it felt like another world.”

“I want to see it,” Haru said wistfully. Zuko hummed thoughtfully.

 

The next day, Zuko attempted to teach Haru how to ride an ostrich horse. They were at the Fasong road inn, and borrowing a beast Zuko assured him was safe to ride. It had an unsettling gaze, however, and Haru was intimidated by the beast.

“Don’t let her scare you,” Zuko said. “Clover is very calm.”

“Clover looks like she wants to eat me,” Haru said.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Zuko said, saddling the animal. 

Haru succeeded in staying on the saddle while Zuko led the animal around the enclosure, but no more. His one attempt at a canter ended with him being thrown to the ground. Clover honked in irritation and went to Zuko’s side like she expected a treat. Haru tried again two more times before admitting defeat.

“Here, lay down,” Zuko said afterwards, pointing to his bedroll. Haru did so, lying on his stomach just in case his “little brother” decided to pop up. Zuko began to massage his legs and back. “This is something my Uncle used to do after training. It helps with riding, too.”

“It feels amazing,” Haru said, relaxing under Zuko’s warm hands. Luckily for his pride, he fell asleep in short order and only awoke when Zuko kicked him.

 

On the third day, Ai kept Haru longer than he had intended.

“Do you have to go?” she said, pouting. Her lips were slightly swollen, as were Haru’s, and she clung to his arm.

“I’m sorry, Ai,” he said. “I promised my friend.”

“I wish you could stay longer,” she said.

“I do, too,” Haru replied, leaning down to kiss her again.

“Promise me you’ll do so tomorrow,” she said. “Please?”

Haru hesitated. Tomorrow was Zuko’s last day in Xiaoshi. He didn’t know when Zuko would leave—he might leave in the morning, or after the market closed, in order to reach an inn by nightfall. Ai fluttered her pretty, pretty eyes.

“Okay,” Haru said. “I’ll stay with you tomorrow.”

“I’m so glad,” Ai said, beaming. 

Haru left her at the gate, and then ran home to change. He stopped short when he saw Zuko waiting for him at his home carrying a basket.

“Zuko, hi!” he said. “What are you doing here?”

“I brought some gifts for your mom,” Zuko said. “And didn’t you invite me to your house for dinner?”

“Oh, I did, didn’t I?” Haru said, laughing. “But that was before we had our fight.”

“Well, I’m here now,” Zuko said.

They went in, and Haru’s mom was coolly surprised to see Zuko. She warmed to him when he presented her with the basket, inside which was a small bag of rice, a bag of barley, a few very small cases of salt and spices, and a bottle of sesame oil. With those ingredients, she made a hearty meal that the three of them enjoyed together. Haru’s mom asked polite questions about Zuko’s journeys, which he answered with equal decorum. At the end of the meal, Zuko put his chopsticks down and cleared his throat.

“I have another reason for coming tonight,” he said. “Tomorrow, I’m leaving in the morning for Fasong. Iida has a shop there that he runs with his brother.”

“So this is goodbye?” Haru asked.

“Well…” Zuko said, keeping his eyes on Haru’s mom. She was regarding him with interest. “I spoke to Iida about the possibility of finding a job in Fasong for Haru, and when I told him the name of Haru’s pottery teacher in Dan Duan he was willing to make a few recommendations. If…if it’s alright with you, I would like to ask that Haru be allowed to accompany me to Fasong.”

“Yes!” Haru said, slamming his hands on the table. “Mom!”

“Settle down, Haru,” she instructed. “Fasong is by the sea, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Zuko said. “I traveled through there once before. It’s not as big as Dan Duan, but it is safe, and the money he could earn there would be more than enough to ensure he lives comfortably.”

“It seems like you’ve thought this through,” she said.

“When I returned to Xiaoshi, Haru…he asked me to stay,” Zuko said. “That’s not possible for me right now. But if you allow him to come with me to Fasong, then I swear that I will personally ensure his safety.”

“You made that same promise two years ago when I first took you in,” she said.

“I never forgot,” Zuko said. Haru’s mom sighed, and shook her head.

“Haru,” she said. “I will allow you to go if you want—”

“Yes! Mom, thank y—!” Haru cried.

“But, I have some conditions,” she said over him. “I’ve heard rumors about Fasong. It’s a Fire Nation port. Our people are not always welcome in such places. So my first condition is this: you will not do anything that would attract attention to yourself. No sneaking out, no causing a ruckus, and no earthbending . Do you understand?”

“I…yes, mom,” Haru said.

“I lost your father,” she said. “I won’t lose you, too.”

“I understand, mom.”

“Good. My second condition is this: you will return home for the fall harvest,” she said.

“...okay, mom,” Haru said, crestfallen.

“I’ll speak with Shubao’s mother about the planting,” she said. “But they struggled to bring in the harvest last year, even after the rain. They’ll need you again this year. We all will.”

“I’ll come back,” Haru said, nodding firmly.

“Good. I love you, Haru,” she said, pulling him in for a hug. “I want you to be happy and safe. I’ll also speak to Ai’s family, and let them know where you’ve gone.”

“Oh, monkey feathers!” Haru exclaimed. “I told Ai I would stay with her tomorrow.”

“Haru!” his mother said reprovingly. “That’s not the kind of promise you should be making at your age.”

Haru blushed and looked away. Zuko pursed his lips.

“We’ll be leaving tomorrow a little after dawn,” he said. “Iida likes to sleep in. I should return and let him know your decision.”

“I’ll meet you at the Fasong road inn tomorrow morning,” Haru said.

“Don’t be late,” Zuko warned.

“I won’t be!” Haru said. Zuko bowed to Haru’s mom, and took his leave. Haru dimly registered that he had made a very big decision, but he was far more excited by the prospect of travel, and far more relieved that Zuko wanted to travel with him.

“Mom, I’m going to pack my things,” Haru said.

“First, you’re going to help me clean this up,” she said, pointing to the mess on the table. “Then you’ll go and pack. And you’ll sleep early tonight, so you’re well-rested for tomorrow.”

Haru complained all through the dishwashing, and he tore through his possessions for things he might need in a big town like Fasong. He packed his sea glass jar, safely ensconced in shirts and a spare blanket. He also grabbed the lacquer box with the soap and the tea, hoping Zuko would remember to show him how to properly brew it. Overall, though, he didn’t have very much to bring.

“I’m going to bed now, Haru,” his mom called.

“Goodnight, mom!” Haru said, hugging her one last time. She kissed him on the forehead, and closed the door to her room. Haru waited in the dark until he was sure she was asleep, and then snuck out once more.

Chapter 12: The Road South

左顧右盼 (zuǒ gù yòu pàn): to look to the left and right

 

Zuko did not wake up early. Iida banged on his door, rousing him from sleep.

“Wake up, boy!” the old man called. “We’re burning daylight!”

He rolled out of bed and got cleaned up, his body and mind protesting at every stage. He had not slept well, plagued by nightmares and anxious for the travel days ahead. Because of a landslide, it would take them four days to get to Fasong, which increased the odds of bandit attacks. After throwing all of his things in a backpack, Zuko donned his spare hat and strapped his dao to his belt.

Iida was checking the cart and chatting with the innkeeper, a Fire Nation woman in her mid-thirties, who had taken over running the inn when the previous proprietor was arrested in the uprising. Zuko looked around the yard, but could not see any sign of Haru. Iida spotted him, and waved.

“Look who’s finally up,” he said gruffly. Iida was approximately what Zuko imagined his Uncle would have been if he was less patient, more cynical, and overall an entirely different kind of man. They had an unspoken understanding between them, which granted Zuko the privilege of anonymity as long as he didn’t press Iida about work he wasn’t directly given. “I haven’t seen any sign of your friend yet.”

“He’ll be here,” Zuko said, throwing his things in the cart.

The sun was climbing, and Iida moved the cart out onto the road. He looked askance at Zuko, who was fidgeting on the bench next to him. Then he waved to the innkeeper and cracked the reins.

“Wait!”

Zuko turned quickly in his seat to see Haru running up the road towards them. He jumped out of the cart and ran to meet him. Haru stopped to catch his breath, looking like he had washed, dressed, and packed in a hurry. His coat wasn’t tied, and his shirt was loose, revealing three small bruises at the base of his neck.

“Sorry,” he said. “I almost overslept.”

“I’m glad you made it,” Zuko said, taking Haru’s bag and throwing it into the cart. “Get in.”

Haru grinned and followed Zuko to the front bench. Iida scooted over slightly to make room for them.

“Hello,” Haru said, bowing. “My name is Haru.”

“I’ve heard,” Iida said, tipping his hat. “I’m Iida. Zuko’s told me all about you.”

“Really?” Haru looked at Zuko, who rolled his eyes in embarrassment.

“He’s exaggerating,” he said.

“Boy, as tight-lipped as you are, anything you deign to share might as well be ten volumes,” Iida complained. He turned back to Haru. “So you’re looking for work in Fasong.”

“Yes, sir,” Haru said. “I apprenticed as a potter in Dan Duan last year, and—”

“Yes, yes, I told you, I heard already,” Iida said, cutting him off. “I’ll set you up with a colleague who owes me a favor. He runs a ceramics shop near Tea Street in the dock ward. You’ll want to know: he’s a mean boss, he hates dirtbiters, and he pays coppers on the gold.”

“Don’t scare him off!” Zuko said.

“It’s the truth,” Iida replied. “Money’s tight everywhere, and he needs to know it’s not going to be like this rustic backwater.”

“You have other contacts,” Zuko said. “Surely you can find him something better.”

“That takes time, boy, and time is gold,” Iida said. “I’ve got him a sure thing, if he wants it.”

“I’ll be fine,” Haru said. Zuko frowned, but fell silent. “If it doesn’t work out, then I will ask Master Iida for his help again.”

“Master! Ha!” Iida laughed. “He’s got more respect than you, boy.”

“Then you should make him your assistant,” Zuko snapped.

“Don’t tempt me,” Iida said.

 

That night, they stopped at a farmhouse in the piedmont. Iida paid the family to let them rest their mounts and make use of their barn, and Zuko and Haru were set the task of setting up their accommodations. The farmer and his eldest son brought out a tub that they could use to clean themselves, and Iida was able to persuade the farmer’s wife to provide them with a hot meal.

“Well, I’m turning in,” Iida said, belching indelicately. “Boy, take those dishes inside when you’re done, and clean the tack and harnesses. And don’t stay up late tonight. Tomorrow we will go through bandit country.”

Zuko groaned, but got to doing his chores with the same angry spite he always did. It had taken him some time to get used to labor. His hands were now calloused, where before they were simply toughened by his training. But he learned, and learned well so that no one could accuse him of not putting in the effort. A job done in a rage was still done.

Haru helped, but Zuko didn’t have the patience to teach him about tack and harnesses, so he simply told him to bathe first while he finished up. Haru soaked in the tub while Zuko polished and cleaned the leather. When he was done, Haru sat up.

“Hey, could you wash my back?” Haru asked.

“Why didn’t you just do it yourself?” Zuko replied.

“I can’t reach back there,” Haru said, trying to touch the small of his back. “There’s no brush.”

“Fine,” Zuko said, stripping down to his underclothes and dragging over a stool. Haru leaned forward while Zuko scrubbed away the dirt, and then massaged the broad planes of the muscles Haru was building. There were clusters of bruises on his left shoulder as well as his neck.

“Where did these come from?” Zuko asked, poking one.

“What? Oh,” Haru said, and then looked away in embarrassment. “Uh, so you remember how yesterday I said I promised to stay with Ai today?”

“I recall,” Zuko said, splashing water over Haru’s back.

“Well, I went to see her last night instead,” he said, leaving it at that.

“Did you…?” Zuko asked, trying and failing to fill in the blanks that Haru was clearly leaving him.

“No! Uhm. Maybe?” Haru said. “We did…something.”

“What?” Zuko asked. He wasn’t a naive fool; he knew what couples could do together to show their love. Many in his journeys had lamented the hearts he himself would undoubtedly break, although in much crasser terms. So Haru’s indecisive answer flummoxed him.

“We…she touched my, you know,” Haru said, burying his face in his hands. “My “little brother,” and I put my hands on her “lotus flower”.”

“And the bruises?” Zuko asked.

“She did those,” Haru admitted. “Turns out, she can kiss pretty hard.”

He laughed self-consciously, standing up quickly and grabbing something to towel himself off. He didn’t look at Zuko or face him until he had regained some modicum of modesty and could cover himself up. Zuko raised an eyebrow at him. He looked ashamed of himself.

“Okay,” he said.

“Okay?” Haru repeated. “You’re not…mad? Upset?”

“Why would I be?” Zuko asked, doffing his underpants and climbing into the tub. Haru blushed and looked away.

“I don’t know!” Haru said. “You didn’t seem to like that I was courting her.”

“I didn’t like how you were behaving around her,” Zuko said, grabbing the soap and lathering himself up. “You can court whoever you want.”

“Oh,” Haru said, somewhat lamely.

He stood there, still dripping a little, until Zuko snapped his fingers to get his attention. With an imperious gesture, he pointed at his own back and held out the soap. Haru quickly sat on the stool and scrubbed Zuko’s back clean.

When they were dry, feeling fresh and tired after a long day’s ride, they lay down on their bedrolls next to each other. Iida slept a short distance away behind a bale of hay for privacy—his and theirs.

“You really don’t mind?” Haru asked quietly as Zuko reached out to douse the lamp.

“Mind what? You courting Ai?” he said.

“Yeah,” Haru said, squirming under his blanket.

“I don’t mind,” Zuko said.

They faced each other in the dark, unable to see but able to hear each other’s breathing, the rustle of fabric, the creaking of the barn settling. Zuko, alone with his thoughts again, gave the question deeper scrutiny. Did he mind Haru courting Ai? He couldn’t really say. He didn’t know her, and had only seen them together once. Haru seemed…unaccountably nervous. But perhaps that was because Ai was indeed quite pretty, for a farm girl peasant.

Zuko felt oddly left out. He’d never known that feeling of liking someone, of desiring them. When he was a kid, Azula had humiliated both him and Mai by revealing her crush on him. Zuko thought he liked her, but she occupied his thoughts less and less as they grew older and apart. He was busy trying to prepare for the duties of a Fire Prince, then he was trying to hunt down the Avatar—to capture him or to inflict on him the same pain he’d let the world feel with his absence—and now…

Now…

What did Zuko want?

Haru shifted again, bringing Zuko back to the present moment. He had returned to Xiaoshi because he missed Haru, and wanted to make sure he was safe. He was reluctant to leave him again, especially after he saw how badly Haru had taken his departure the first time. It was both scary and comforting to know that someone wanted to be around him that intensely.

“Haru?” he said.

“Yeah?” 

“I…”

“What is it, Zuko?” Haru asked, scooting closer.

“...nevermind,” Zuko said, rolling over. “Go to sleep.”

 

The next two days were uneventful. Iida drove the cart while Haru and Zuko alternated between sitting on the driver’s bench, walking alongside the cart, or twice unhooking one of the ostrich horses to ride around and blow off some steam. Zuko pushed Haru to practice on those occasions, but he just could not get the hang of it.

 

They stayed at a small lakeside inn on the second night, and Haru and Zuko both crept out for midnight skinny dipping under the starlight. They skipped rocks across the surface, and raced each other to a small island near the center of the lake. Then, they wrestled for the title of King of the Island.

“I win!” Haru crowed, after pinning Zuko down in the dirt. “I am now the Island King! As my first official decree, I hereby command all people on the island to bow to me!”

“Bold of you to give commands to the Fire Prince,” Zuko said, getting to his feet and brushing off some of the dirt.

“Are you challenging the king?” Haru said, raising his fists and grinning. Zuko’s response was to tackle him to the ground. He got Haru’s leg in a painful hold. “Ow! Ow! I yield! The crown is yours!”

“Then as my first official decree as Island Lord,” Zuko said, letting go. “I command all people on the island to build me a worthy throne.”

“It shall be done, my lord,” Haru said, squatting down in a horse stance. With a grunt, he raised a square earth platform, and with a second pull, he gave the “throne” a “back”. Zuko inspected it, and sat down, legs crossed and arms folded.

“This will do,” he said imperiously.

“Very good, my lord,” Haru said, grinning mischievously. He then deepened his stance, and launched Zuko into the lake. “Too bad you could not foresee such an obvious trap!”

“I’ll get you for this!” Zuko called, swimming back to shore. Haru, laughing, attempted to run. They chased each other around the island until they were worn out, and then flopped down on the beach where they could see the lights of the inn.

“Hey,” Haru said, rolling onto his side to look at Zuko.

“What?” Zuko asked, rolling to face him.

“This is fun,” he said. Zuko flicked him on the forehead. “Ow! What was that for?”

“You’re so dumb,” Zuko said affectionately.

Haru grabbed his hands and held them to the ground, a weak attempt at a submission. They stared at each other, Haru leaning over Zuko, his face framed by his wet hair in the dark. There was a moment where Zuko could have sworn Haru leaned in, but then he let go of Zuko and rolled off.

“We should get back,” he said.

“Yeah,” Zuko said, watching him stretch by the waterside.

 

The third night it rained, and they were forced to make camp under a tree. Iida cooked up some simple travel gruel while Zuko and Haru made a bivouac out of canvas and rope. It took several tries, as neither were particularly good at it—Haru had never been camping in his life, and Zuko had learned to avoid putting himself in such situations.

They slept next to each other for warmth, but the rain did not let up until very, very late. They awoke the next morning with soaking feet, covered in dew. Sometime during the night, Haru had wrapped himself around Zuko, whose legs were both asleep as a consequence.

“Haru,” he said, elbowing him in the stomach.

“Oof! Ow,” Haru said. “That hurt.”

“I can’t feel my legs, Haru,” Zuko said. “Move.”

“What? Oh, sorry.”

Iida was already awake and making a fire. They broke camp. The road took them briefly back up into the hills, where it rejoined the main road to Dan Duan through Xiaoshi, the one that had been blocked by the rockslide. Iida held the reins tensely as they went.

“Keep your eyes peeled, boy,” he said to Zuko. “This is bandit country.”

“You’ve been saying that for the last three days,” Zuko said. Nevertheless, he kept one hand on his dao.

“Are bandits really a problem around Fasong?” Haru asked.

“Not as such,” Iida replied. “The police keep them out of the towns, and the army keeps them in the hills and away from the main roads. But there’s only so many soldiers and the roads are long.”

The road wound its way down through a shallow gulch. About halfway through, Zuko caught sight of movement on the ridge. Archers! Two arrows flew past them, one narrowly missing Iida and the other striking the side of the cart near Haru. Zuko was on his feet, but Iida grabbed him by the wrist.

“Easy now!” the bandits called. “Get down off your cart and drop your weapons, and nobody needs to get hurt!”

“Alright, alright, we’ll do it!” Iida called. To Zuko, he whispered: “Wait. Don’t do anything until you know how many there are.”

“We can take them,” Zuko hissed as he put his hands up.

“Don’t be reckless with my cargo, boy,” Iida whispered back, getting down off the cart. Zuko and Haru were on the other side.

“Your swords,” the bandits on the ridge called. “On the ground.”

Zuko untied his dao and threw them aside.

“Good, now, stand against the canyon wall.”

They obeyed. Zuko kept his eyes up. Two bandits on the ridge held bows, but then two more descended on ropes into the gulch behind them.

“There’s only four,” Zuko said quietly. “If I can get my swords, we can fight them.”

“There’re archers, Zuko,” Haru said.

“Leave them to me.”

Haru took a breath, glanced between Zuko, the archers, and the two bandits advancing on the cart, and then raised his foot. With a quick stamp, he launched the dao into the air. Zuko caught it, and drew the blades. He jumped onto the cart and cut down the arrows the bandits fired. Iida and Haru clambered onto the bench, and Iida cracked the reins. The cart lurched forward, throwing Zuko off-balance. The two bandits in the gulch ran to catch up, but he forced them back with fire.

“Watch out!” 

Zuko turned and saw that an earthen barrier had been raised across the road by a fifth bandit they hadn’t seen.

“If I slow down they’ll catch us!” Iida yelled.

Haru reached out with his fists clenched. With a yell, he pulled a section of earth from one wall of the gulch and used it to slam the bandit into the opposite wall. Then he smashed the barrier, allowing them through. Zuko blocked a few more arrows, but soon enough they had put the whole place behind them.

“Nice work, boy!” Iida said as Zuko took his seat. “And you, too, you little dirtbiter.”

“Thanks?” Haru said.

“Of course, since you saved my goods, I’m willing to overlook the fact that you’re an earthbender,” he said magnanimously. Zuko, now that the adrenalin of the fight was fading, felt a spike of annoyance at Iida’s tone. Iida went on. “You’d be well-advised not to do that again once we reach the main road.”

“I know,” Haru said. “It’s banned.”

“And the police would not be kind even if you did claim it was self-defense,” Iida said.

“My mother told me how to handle the guards,” Haru said.

“Even so,” Iida said, scratching his chin. “It’d be bad for me if people found out I brought a bandit into town. Most of the earthbenders around these parts either don’t show it, or they’re up in the hills robbing folks. You’d best stay in the first group.”

Haru nodded, and let out a shaky breath. Zuko put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. Haru smiled weakly at him, but didn’t speak much for the remainder of the journey. Zuko’s disquiet at Iida’s words festered and grew as they reached the main road and turned towards Fasong.

Chapter 13: Fasong

忙里偷闲 (máng lǐ tōu xián): to find time for pleasure between work

 

The first indication that they were nearing Fasong was the public noticeboard covered in wanted posters. Zuko reached out from the cart and snagged one of a scowling earthbender named Xuen, a known smuggler, bandit, and murderer. Iida grunted when he saw it.

“Still at large, I see,” he said.

They crested a tree-lined ridge and saw the town laid out before them. There was a dense cluster of buildings and warehouses down by the bay, the largest of which was a ferry station, and the next-largest of which was a Fire Temple. On a hill overlooking this was a Fire Army base. Villages and hamlets radiated out from the harbor along smaller roads, forming a patchwork of farm fields laid clumsily out among the rocky, coastal hills. In the distance, out to sea, there was what looked like an island shrouded in dark smoke.

“What’s that?” Haru asked, pointing.

“That’s the prison rig,” Iida said. “That ferry station there? That’s where they take prisoners from all across the colonies to ship them over.”

“What do they do with them?” Zuko asked.

“Shipbuilding, I seem to recall,” Iida said. “Fire Navy warships and the like. So be on your best behavior if you don’t want to join them.”

Haru and Zuko exchanged looks as the cart descended the ridge on a gentle switchback. They passed farm fields being worked by sullen-looking Earth Kingdom people. Fire Nation couriers on ostrich horseback waved to them as they hurried by. Iida greeted a fellow merchant who was resting her mount by a stable in one of the villages. Finally, they passed over a small moat and through a gated wall into the cobblestone streets of Fasong.

Iida went to his shop first, and had Zuko and Haru unload the cart and store everything in the dingy backroom. The shop was on a market side street that was packed with other businesses selling variations of the same thing. Iida spent some time socializing, and then hustled Zuko and Haru out the back door to an alley that led out of the market and into a residential area. Iida’s house was a single-storey building with a small walled garden in the back that was badly in need of weeding. The tour was brief: kitchen, pantry, main room, Iida’s room, Iida’s study, latrine, Zuko and Haru’s room. Everything was covered in a thin layer of dust, to Iida’s annoyance. There was a public water pump down the street where they could get water, and a public bath on the next street which they could use for a few copper pieces each. With an instruction not to burn the house down, Iida left them to settle in so he could go and call on a few friends and associates.

“So, this is your room?” Haru asked, stepping into the last room along the narrow hall that ran parallel to the garden. It was small with walls of white paper and a raised wooden floor.

“I guess,” Zuko said, leaning against the door jamb. “This is my first time staying in this house.”

“How long have you and Iida been traveling together?” Haru asked. He found a sliding door into a shallow closet, inside which were a few small chests of drawers and a rolled up futon.

“Only a few months,” Zuko said. “We met up north near Fuzhan. I was out of money and he needed an assistant. He also happened to be going in this direction.”

“Does he travel a lot?” Haru asked.

“He does,” Zuko said. “He also has a house near West Lake.”

There was an awkward pause as Haru took the futon out of the closet and turned to Zuko.

“So, it looks like there’s only one futon,” he said. Zuko felt a strange jolt in his chest.

“I’ll just use my camping bedroll,” he said.

“Oh,” Haru said, looking embarrassed. “Right. That’s a good idea.”

Zuko frowned. Why did Haru look disappointed? He felt that jolt again, but chalked it up to travel fatigue. He dropped his pack near the door.

“I’m going to the bathhouse,” he said. “Want to join me?”

“Sure,” Haru said.

 

“No dirtbiters!”

They had entered the bathhouse and barely taken off their shoes when Haru was accosted by an attendant. Zuko’s temper immediately flared.

“Hey!” he said. “He’s my friend!”

“My apologies, honored guest,” the attendant said, demeanor changing from irate to obsequious. “But we have a strict policy barring members of the lower order from the premises. There have been incidents with other guests in the past, you see.”

“Fine, then we’ll take our custom elsewhere,” Zuko snapped.

Once outside, they stopped in the street, fuming. Haru’s fists clenched and unclenched, while Zuko felt the tension in his jaw and forehead. Their eyes met, and they both released identical sighs.

“We should have seen that coming,” Haru said. “There were places like that in Dan Duan, too.”

“You’re right,” Zuko said, recalling some of the establishments his annoying classmates had dragged him to. “I’m sorry.”

“Well, we still need baths,” Haru said, sniffing himself. “Honestly, though, I don’t get public bathhouses. I prefer it if it’s just us.”

Zuko felt that same jolt in his chest. He frowned, folding his arms as if applying pressure would make it stop.

“Iida didn’t have a tub,” he said. “But we can buy one and get water from the public pump.”

“We can put it in the back yard near the garden,” Haru said. Zuko nodded, and off they went to find a suitable tub.

 

Life in Fasong was hard, but they fell into a routine that helped make it bearable. Every morning they woke up to the sound of the Fire Temple’s ringing bell. Iida paid an old Earth Kingdom woman to come by every day and prepare breakfast for them. She would then clean the house while they were all at work. Haru left for his pottery job after breakfast, and Zuko would accompany Iida to his shop shortly after.

If Iida didn’t take him to his favorite restaurant for dinner, he would find his own meal and listen around town for Avatar gossip. Either way, he was often frustrated and tired when he got back. If Haru was already home, he would either be finishing his own dinner or preparing the tub. If he wasn’t home first, the job of drawing the bath fell to Zuko.

Their evening ritual was always the same. They would bathe in the backyard, taking turns soaking as the seasons changed and the evenings grew longer. Even after a day full of restocking, inventory checks, difficult customers, and putting up with Iida’s casual disdain for Earth Kingdom folk, Zuko could still muster up the energy to scrub Haru’s back and massage his aching muscles. Then Haru would return the favor.

After the bath was done, they dressed in light robes and stayed in the main room while Iida went to his study. They played card games and pai sho, although Zuko was neither very good at the latter game nor a patient instructor. They drank tea, ate snacks, and talked of nothing in particular. They had a silent agreement not to talk about their days. In Zuko’s case, he found it more and more difficult to disregard the way Fasong’s Fire Nation citizenry simply did not care about the war, except insofar as they profited from it. Venting about it to Haru, however, never made him feel better; Haru always replied, “Yeah, I already know.”

Haru’s reasons for keeping quiet could only be guessed at.

When the candles burned low, and they could not stave off the yawns anymore, they retreated to their room, rolled out the beds, and went to sleep. Or at least, they tried. More often than not they lay facing each other and continued talking. Zuko liked these moments, because he liked basking in the feeling of closeness that Haru instilled in him. It reminded him of his Mother, but rather than being maternal in nature it was something else.

 

They were in the back garden one evening, watching fireflies rise up from the weeds. Haru sat in the tub, his head leaned back and a contented smile on his face as Zuko massaged his scalp. He had earlier complained of a headache. Zuko found himself admiring Haru’s body, although hardly for the first time, but in that evening light with the winking insects hovering about there was just something about the relaxed and easy sprawl of this boy that drew his eye.

“Your arms have gotten bigger,” Zuko remarked.

“Thanks,” Haru said, making a muscle for Zuko’s benefit. “I noticed you’ve gotten stronger, too.”

“I haven’t been training, though,” Zuko said.

“Still,” Haru shrugged, a rippling motion in his shoulders that sent ripples across the surface of the tub. 

“Hey, Zuko,” Haru asked suddenly. “How long will we stay here?”

“I need to save more money,” Zuko said. “I have to continue my quest.”

“So you’re planning on leaving again,” Haru said.

Zuko stopped the massage and simply let Haru rest his head in his hands. Of course he was planning to leave. He hadn’t given up on his quest to find the Avatar, even if his reasons for not doing so were more uncertain than ever. What else was he supposed to do? Still, Haru’s disappointment tugged at his heartstrings.

“What will you do when I leave?” Zuko asked.

“Well, I have to go home in the fall anyway,” Haru said. “Maybe I’ll stay in Xiaoshi.”

“Hm.”

“I’ll help my mom with her garden,” he said.

“Mhm.”

“I’ll bring in the harvest with Shubao and his sisters,” he said.

“Mm.”

“I might continue courting Ai,” he said.

“What do you mean ‘might?’” Zuko asked.

“Well, I told her I was leaving for a while,” Haru said, shrugging again. “She might wait for me to come back, but she might not.”

“But, you two spent a night together,” Zuko said, confusion mounting. “Surely you intend to go back to her.”

Haru was quiet for a moment, and then leaned back to look up at Zuko. His wet hair fell over the side of the tub. The fireflies’ dance was beginning to abate, and the yellow lamplight reflected in Haru’s eyes.

“I thought…I thought it would mean something more,” he said. He let his head roll forward again. “But it didn’t.”

Zuko didn’t have a reply to that. He was noticing a new feeling under the confusion, and it took him a minute before he could name it: relief.

 

The summer solstice came. Iida gave Zuko the day off, and Haru was able to leave work early, which meant that they could attend the festivities together. They dressed in nice clothes and ran out to join the crowds winding their way through the marketplace and the town square.

Their revelry was cut prematurely short, however, by the appearance of prison wagons. They were attempting to cross the main thoroughfare from the harbor when a police squad appeared, clearing people out of the way. Zuko and Haru were shoved together by the crowd, but their attention was fixed on the wagons. They were full of Earth Kingdom people in rags, some sporting bruises. All of them were shackled, and all looked down dully as the wagons drove onward. Zuko and Haru heard the murmurs of the people around them.

“Another bunch of dirtbiters,” scoffed one man.

“How are there always so many?” a woman asked.

“Do they have to take them through the middle of town?”

“Well, better locked away than wandering free.”

“They look so filthy.”

Zuko and Haru exchanged looks and nodded. They fought free of the crowd press, taking shelter in a sidestreet.

“Didn’t some of them look like they could’ve been earthbenders?” Haru asked.

“Iida said they bring earthbender prisoners through town sometimes,” Zuko said.

“We have to follow them,” Haru said. “They might know where my dad was taken.”

Zuko nodded, and they set off after the prison wagons. Luckily, the crowded streets made for slow going, and they were able to keep up without any issue. The wagons went down to the waterfront, and then over to the ferry terminal. The prisoners were unloaded under heavy guard, and ushered into the terminal building. Zuko and Haru watched, hidden behind some crates nearby. After a time, the prisoners left the building and lined up by a ferry.

“They’re taking them to the prison rig,” Haru said. “So they are all earthbenders.”

The line of prisoners filed onboard. With each passing moment, Haru got more and more tense. He was beginning to look less like a person and more like a fox waiting to pounce on a rabbit.

“Haru, don’t,” Zuko said, putting a staying hand on his arm.

“I need to find out if my dad is out there,” Haru said, gesturing to the prison rig.

“Dressed like that?” Zuko said, eyebrow raised as he waved at Haru’s festive getup. “Without any weapons or armor? What happens if they catch you?”

“Alright, fine!” Haru snapped. With great effort, he sat down and did not watch the ferry as it sailed towards the rig. “It was a dumb idea anyway.”

“It wasn’t even an idea,” Zuko retorted. He knelt down next to Haru and put a hand on his shoulder. “We need to know what we’re up against first.”

“You’re right,” Haru said. “Wait, we?”

“Of course,” Zuko scoffed. “I promised your mom I’d keep you safe. If you go to the rig, then I’m going with you.”

Haru’s lip trembled, and then he grabbed Zuko in a tight hug. His shoulders shook as he tried to hold in his sobs.

“I hate them,” he said. “I hate them all.”

Chapter 14: Regardless Of Consequences

不管三七二十一 (bù guǎn sān qī èr shí yī): not caring if three sevens are twenty one; regardless of consequences

 

Zuko now had a new target for investigation: the prison rig. His normal approach would be to skulk around and listen, inserting himself into a conversation if he heard something of interest. Being Iida’s assistant, moreover, had made him somewhat canny.

“I have a question, if you wouldn’t mind,” he asked the fruit seller at the market the next day.

“Go ahead,” the fruit seller said.

“I was on my way to the festival last night when the road was blocked by the police,” he said. “They were transporting prisoners through town. Is that normal?”

“Ah, yes, they do that from time to time,” the fruit seller replied, shaking his head. “Earthbenders, all of them. Wish they didn’t have to bring them through the town. Between you and me, I’m always afraid one of the farmers I buy from is secretly an earthbender. I’ve heard stories.”

“Like what?” Zuko asked.

“Earthbenders attacking innocent folks,” he said. “Crushing them between huge rocks until they’re jelly, or opening up the ground to swallow them up whole! It’s enough to give me nightmares.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Zuko said, recalling a scorched village he had seen in the Earth Kingdom. “Every bending style can be used to hurt people.”

“Yes, you’re right, of course,” the fruit seller said. “The Fire Army isn’t going into battle with poppies and baskets of chameleon kittens. But there’s something about being able to move the earth under your feet that just gets to me.”

Zuko ended the conversation shortly afterwards. The fruit seller was clearly an idiot. He nevertheless found himself wondering if Haru knew or had learned any bending techniques like that, and how he might counter them in a fight.

 

He volunteered to take deliveries for the shop throughout the week, and took opportunities to seek better information about the rig itself. He found dockworkers and sailors were the best-informed and least reticent about it. One day, for instance, when he was making a delivery to a warehouse on the quay, he got into a conversation with a few stevedores on break.

“The whole thing’s made of iron,” said one, a man with a balding head. “Down to the foundation, even.”

“Is it not built on an island?” said another, a man with a blue sailor cap.

“Nope. It’s built atop a reef,” the balding man said. “I heard that before the Fire Navy commissioned it, it had a reputation for wrecking ships. They had a name for it.”

“Scorpion Ray Rocks,” said a third, a man with a scraggly beard. For Zuko’s benefit, he added: “Scorpion rays hide in the sand in shallow waters and strike at anything that passes. Their venom is lethal.”

“So why build a prison on top of such a dangerous place?” Zuko asked.

“It’s not just a prison, boy,” the blue-capped man said. “It’s a shipyard, a coaling station, a lighthouse. A lot of important work goes on out there.”

“All prison labor, though,” the bearded man said. “I’ve heard the warden in charge is a cruel bastard.”

“And they’re all earthbenders?” Zuko asked.

“Yep,” the balding man said. “Best place to keep them. There’s not a single rock for them to bend anywhere around.”

“Has anyone ever escaped?” Zuko asked.

“I’m sure they’ve tried,” the blue-capped man said. “Spirits know, I’d hate every minute being trapped in an iron box. But to my knowledge no one has ever succeeded.”

 

When he got back home, he found Haru packing a bag in a furious rush. Clothing and other items were scattered on the floor of their room while he hunted through their closet.

“Haru, what are you doing?” Zuko demanded.

“I’m doing what I should’ve done a week ago, Zuko,” Haru said, finding his jar of sea glass. “I’m going to find my dad.”

“Now?” Zuko was speechless.

“Yes,” Haru said. “If he’s on that prison rig, I have to go now. He could be dying!”

“Haru, this is crazy,” Zuko said. “How are you going to get there?”

“I’ll take the ferry,” Haru said. “Then, once I’m there, I’ll find him, and we’ll figure out a way to get back.”

“Haru, wait, listen,” Zuko said, grabbing Haru’s arms and stopping him from shoving the jar into his bag. “I asked around town. Nobody has ever escaped from the prison rig before.”

“So? Then I’ll be the first!” Haru said, laughing almost hysterically.

“I won’t let you do this,” Zuko said.

“You can’t stop me!” Haru yelled.

“You’ll die, Haru!” Zuko yelled back. “Or worse! The prison is made of metal. You can’t bend it . If you go now, you’ll just be leaving your mom alone.”

That seemed to shake Haru out of his anger, but what replaced it was frustrated sobbing. He nearly crumpled into Zuko, who went from holding him back to holding him upright.

“I can’t do it anymore, Zuko,” he said. “I tried. I really did. I thought if I followed you here, we could stay together and I could endure anything. But knowing that my dad is out there, it’s too much.”

“I didn’t know it was so hard for you here,” Zuko said, loosening his grip on Haru’s arms. He now held him in an awkward hug, so he shifted them both to make it a proper one. “We never talked about it.”

“I hate it here,” Haru said. “I hate my ashmaking boss, I hate his monkey flapping assistants, I hate that bathhouse owner, I hate the policeman who patrols our street. I just want to go home.”

“Then you should go,” Zuko said. Haru looked up at him and sniffed. “You should go back to Xiaoshi. It’ll be autumn in a few weeks anyway. Take the money you earned and go back.”

“But what about my dad?” Haru asked. “What about you?”

“I’ll find out everything I can about the prison rig,” Zuko promised. “When Iida decides to pick up and travel again, I’ll come back to Xiaoshi and we’ll make a plan—a real plan—to save your dad.”

“Really?” Haru asked, equal parts skepticism and hope.

“Don’t be dumb. I told you I’d go with you,” Zuko said, flicking Haru on the forehead. “But I also promised your mom I’d keep you safe. This is the best way I can keep my promise to both of you.”

Zuko gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile, even though inside he felt that the situation might truly be hopeless. Then, before he could react, Haru grabbed his face in his free hand and brought their lips together. It was just a light brush, soft, if a little damp. Zuko felt the jolt in his chest stronger than ever. He froze. Haru pulled back, and his eyes fluttered as he tried to read Zuko’s face.

Whatever he saw must have encouraged him, because he surged forward again, dropping the jar of sea glass on the floor. The lid popped off, scattering the glass pieces everywhere. Haru was kissing Zuko with bruising strength, desperate from need or desire. Zuko’s noise of protest was muffled, but he was able to get his arm between them and shove Haru back.

“Haru, stop!” he said.

Haru stumbled back, and then his hand flew to his mouth.

“Oh no,” he said. “I’m sorry! I… I shouldn’t have… Oma and Shu!”

Zuko was too stunned to stop him from grabbing his bag, shoving the last of his effects into it, and running past him. He paused in the door, and glanced back at Zuko.

“Please don’t hate me,” he said.

Then he left. Zuko touched his mouth, which stung, and his finger came away with a bit of blood. Haru had bitten him. He looked around the disordered room. The jar of seaglass had rolled into the corner, half-empty. The futon and Zuko’s bedroll were both rumpled, unmade. Another jolt, of realization this time, hit him: it was nighttime, and Haru was alone outside in Fasong. Zuko walked quickly out of Iida’s house and through the streets. He searched around the neighborhood first until a policeman stopped him.

“Excuse me, have you seen, uh, a boy about my age?” Zuko asked. “Long brown hair, maybe carrying a bag.”

“I did see someone like that,” the policeman said. “He was heading that way in a hurry.”

He pointed towards the main gate. Zuko bowed briefly and ran. When he got there, however, it was too late: Haru was long gone.

Chapter 15: Avoidance

避而不见 (bì ér bù jiàn): to avoid meeting someone

 

Summer’s green faded, and autumn came to Fasong. Zuko hardly remembered the days that passed, struck as he was by Haru’s absence and the lingering memory of his kiss. Iida had not been pleased to learn of Haru’s midnight run, but there wasn’t much to be done about it. Haru’s boss had stormed in to demand where the ‘thieving little dirtbiter’ had run off to; luckily for him, Iida was home, so Zuko didn’t have to explain the man’s sudden and violent disappearance to the police.

Zuko went through his days automatically. He went to work, stocked the shelves, made deliveries. He ate. He bathed. The only difference to his routine was that, in the evenings, instead of staying up with Haru, he practiced firebending. The backyard was not big enough for his usual sets, so he was forced to learn restraint so as not to burn down the neighborhood.

No matter how sorely tempted he was.

 

The moon was full one night, and the leaves in the neighbor’s maple had turned a brilliant orange. Zuko was soaking in the tub again after training vigorously—the day’s work had been particularly frustrating, and he had been waiting for someone to give him a reason—when his thoughts turned to Haru again.

“Idiot,” Zuko said. “I wouldn’t hate you for that.”

He touched his lip. It had healed, but for a week or two after there had been a small bump where Haru’s teeth had nipped him. That, too, was now gone. But still, Zuko felt the jolt when he remembered it. He had spent hours agonizing over that moment, trying to piece together Haru’s motives, and it didn’t take long for him to come to a conclusion. 

Haru was in love with him. Moreover, Zuko had known that he was in love with him for some time, even if he was in denial about it to himself. Haru had been so obvious . But he had also always given Zuko plausible deniability. They were like brothers! They were close friends! They bathed together and shared rooms because they had always done that, and it was just natural for them! Haru had courted Ai, so clearly his feelings for Zuko were fraternal and nothing more!

So many laughably flimsy excuses.

Zuko’s other hand slipped below the water. His own thoughts were a confused mess, but somehow when it came to action he never seemed to hesitate. He didn’t know how he felt about Haru’s behavior, or his unspoken confession, or his hidden pain. He didn’t know if he was angry or sad. He didn’t know if he missed Haru, or if he desired him, or if he wanted nothing to do with him. His so-called friends in the Dan Duan school had made no secret of their disdain for boy-lovers, and it was common that the weak boys in class were singled out as being too feminine, too queer, and too lecherous towards their stronger, manlier classmates.

And yet, Zuko felt heat pooling in his groin, and felt himself growing hard when he recalled Haru. They knew each other’s bodies as well as anyone could who weren’t lovers. All those lines, those planes, those divots and curves, took on new meaning in Zuko’s mind. He touched himself, and imagined it was Haru touching him. Rather than disgusting him, it made him more excited. His breath quickened, and he squeezed himself under the water harder.

When he was finished, when his mind returned to his body, he washed himself again, dumped the water on the dead plants in the garden, and went to his room. It was just his, now. He had put his camp roll away in the closet and slept on the futon until it no longer smelled like Haru. The jar of sea glass sat beside the pillow. He held it now as he lay down to sleep.

Gathering sea glass had been something he did to honor the memory of his Uncle, who liked useless, pretty things. He had given his collection to Haru because, somehow in his younger mind, there was a deep connection between the anguish he felt over his Uncle’s death and the anguish Haru felt over his father’s arrest. It made sense to give him some token to help him feel better about it. But now Zuko wondered if Haru thought of his dad when he held the jar, or if he thought of Zuko.

Zuko once again felt that restless heat in his belly. Luckily, he had the foresight to prepare a handkerchief this time.

 

Fall became winter, and snow fell in the high mountains. Iida complained about his joints, and swore he would head south soon. Zuko redoubled his efforts to learn as much as he could about the prison rig. He bought a journal to record everything, and kept it in a locked drawer in the closet. 

The notes he made about the prison rig were mixed with any and all rumors he gathered about the Avatar. One page would detail things like ships that had been built at the rig, and the next page would contain wild speculations about an airbender flying across the world on a cloud. Personal information about the prison rig’s warden would be written alongside scraps of poetry by the guru Laghima. A ferry schedule would be scribbled in the margins below a detailed web of conspiracy linking a dumpling shop in Ba Sing Se to an international secret cabal of pai sho players bent on crowning the Avatar ruler of the whole world.

Zuko knew he probably had enough information to put together a plan to infiltrate the prison rig and free Haru’s dad, assuming he was still alive. He could have gone to Haru and made good on his promise. Failing that, he could have written a letter. He could have done it at any time. He knew where Haru was. The harvest season was over, so there was nothing to keep him there.

But there was always a reason to delay. Iida still needed help at the shop. It wasn’t yet time for him to be paid, so he should wait a few more days. More flimsy excuses. More rationalizations.

 

He packed his bags and went to Iida’s study one afternoon. Iida was also in the process of packing up his papers and weights. The office clutter was made worse by the addition of travel chests.

“Are you going somewhere?” Zuko asked.

“Yes, as it happens,” Iida said, looking up. “So are you, it would seem.”

“Why didn’t you say anything before?” Zuko asked.

“I could ask you the same, boy,” Iida shot back, stacking claim slips together and tying them with a ribbon.

“It was a sudden decision,” Zuko said.

“As it was for me,” Iida replied mildly. “Although, if you’re going, that complicates my departure somewhat. I was going to ask you to mind the shop. I’ll have to find a trustworthy replacement, I suppose.”

“Where are you going?” Zuko asked, leaning against the door jamb.

“Business on Whaletail Isle,” Iida said. “You?”

“I’m going to see Haru,” Zuko said.

“As you like,” Iida said. “Watch the road for bandits on your way back.”

Zuko nodded, and then left without another word. At the edge of town, he paid for an ostrich horse and rode hard until nightfall, resting at an inn in the foothills. The main room of the inn was abuzz with chatter that Zuko largely ignored.

“Xuen’s bandits struck a town in the Iron Hills last week, I heard. No survivors.”

“If there were no survivors, how do we know it was Xuen?”

“He carved his name in the town hall for the next patrol to find. Who else could it be?”

“But still, no survivors? None at all?”

“I heard they all just vanished into thin air.”

“Swallowed by the earth, more like.”

“Even the dirtbiters?”

“People like Xuen are barbarians. They don’t give a damn if it’s their own kind or ours.”

Zuko slept poorly that night, plagued with nightmarish and sensuous dreams alike. He woke early in the dark, saddled up his ostrich horse, and left at a brisk pace.

 

Xiaoshi was not as he remembered. There were more soldiers in town than before, and he saw fewer Earth Kingdom people about. He tied up his mount in the market outside the noodle shop and went in to get a late breakfast.

“Excuse me,” he said, flagging down the middle-aged auntie taking orders. “Why are there so many soldiers in town?”

“Are you new in town?” she asked. “This place used to have a real bandit problem. The mayor requested more soldiers to drive them out, so now it’s a lot safer. They even reopened the mines. It’s been great for business.”

“I lived here for two years,” Zuko said. “There weren’t that many bandits before.”

“No? Hmph. Well, they never targeted the farmers or the dirtbiters,” the auntie said. “Now, are you gonna order something?”

He got a bowl of spicy noodles. When the auntie brought it out, she lingered a moment longer until he tried the first bite.

“So, what do you think?” she asked.

“Not bad,” Zuko said.

“The secret is the fire peppers,” she said. “We had them brought in special. The local food’s too bland without it. Oh! But Susu’s Grocery Shop has this wonderful pickled radish that I absolutely adore. Shame about her son.”

“What about him?” Zuko asked sharply.

“Well, he was arrested last night,” she said. “It turns out he was an earthbender. It’s a real shame. I met him once or twice at the market, and he was always so nice. Just goes to show, you can never really know someone— sir? Excuse me! Sir! You have to pay for your food!”

Zuko had jumped to his feet and ran from the restaurant, deaf to her irate yells. He skidded to a stop in the middle of the market, looking around. Sure enough, towards the far end was a small building with the sign Susu’s Grocery Shop over the door. He sprinted towards it and burst inside.

Haru’s mom was sitting behind the counter with her face in her hands. She looked up, startled, when he came in. Her eyes were shiny and her face was wet.

“Zuko?” she said.

“Where’s Haru?” Zuko demanded.

“Gone. He’s gone!” she wailed. “First Tyro, and now my little boy!”

“What happened?” he asked.

“He was seen earthbending!” she said. “There was a mine collapse, and he happened to be nearby. He used his earthbending to rescue someone trapped by the rocks, but then the police came for him. I told him not to do it, and now he’s gone!”

Zuko clenched his fists, but then walked over and laid a hand on Haru’s mom’s shoulder.

“Haru did nothing wrong,” he said firmly. “And I’m going to go bring him back.”

“It’s funny,” she said, wiping away her tears. “That’s what that girl said after she found out.”

“What girl?” Zuko asked.

“Some traveler with her brother and a monk,” she said. “They found out about his earthbending, too. Seemed to think it was a gift to be used.”

“Where are they now?” he asked, a plan forming in his mind. By himself, it would be difficult to get to the prison rig, but with a small group…

“They’re probably staying at the Yun family’s old barn.”

Zuko was away in a trice, but hadn’t gotten two steps out the door when he was stopped by the police.

“Halt,” a police officer said.

“Yes, that’s the man right there,” the noodle shop auntie said, pointing. “He ran out without paying for his meal!”

“I’m sure we can settle this amicably,” the police officer said, glancing Zuko over and seeing his obvious Fire Nation dress.

“I’m in a hurry,” Zuko said.

“Well! I’m running a business,” the noodle shop auntie said. “But if you pay me and apologize properly, I’ll let the matter drop.”

Zuko clicked his tongue, but fished out a few coins from his purse and then bowed low.

“I apologize for my rude behavior,” he said. “I cannot excuse my actions and I beg your forgiveness.”

“Very well,” the noodle shop auntie said, pocketing his money. “But don’t try that again, or I’ll have you jailed.”

Zuko waited for her to flounce back into her shop before untying his ostrich horse and riding out of the market towards the Yun family barn.

 

He heard voices as he approached, kicking his horse to trot faster as he approached the old barn. Rounding the corner, he pulled back on the reins, jaw dropping at the sight that greeted him. First, there was an enormous bison creature with white and brown fur. It was resting with its paws tucked under its enormous bulk. Next to it was a peasant boy in Water Tribe blue who was picking his nose and talking to a short, bald monk in orange and yellow clothing. On his head was a blue arrow tattoo.

Zuko briefly saw red.

“You!” he barked. The two boys looked up, eyes wide. Zuko dismounted and stalked forward. “After all this time, all those years I’ve spent looking, and I find you here of all places?”

“Woah, back up there, pal,” the peasant boy said, stepping forward with a club drawn. “What are you talking about?”

“Yeah,” the monk said. His voice was high and childish. He looked no older than twelve. But the markings were unmistakable. “I don’t think we’ve met before.”

“You’re an airbender,” Zuko said. “Right?”

“Uh,” the monk said.

“He doesn’t have to answer that!” the peasant boy said.

“What if I am?” the monk said, and then laughed uncomfortably.

“If you were, then that would make you the Avatar,” Zuko snarled, hands briefly igniting.

“He’s a firebender!” the peasant said. “Aang, we gotta run!”

“You’re planning to rescue Haru, right?” Zuko said.

“What, gonna try and stop us? Fat chance!” the peasant yelled, putting himself squarely between Zuko and the Avatar. Zuko held his gaze, and then reached into his bag. The other two jumped back in fear, but instead of weapons Zuko took out the jar of sea glass. 

“I want to help you,” Zuko said, kneeling on the ground in supplication, the jar in front of him like a peace offering. “Please. Haru saved my life three years ago. He’s my closest friend in the world, and I should’ve been there to keep him safe.”

The peasant and the Avatar exchanged looks.

“Is your name Zuko, by any chance?” the Avatar asked.

“Yes,” Zuko said, sitting up on his knees.

“Haru talked about you,” Aang said. “But he said you weren’t friends anymore.”

“Obviously he’s mistaken,” Zuko said.

“Here’s what I don’t get,” the peasant said. “Why would he save a firebender? The Fire Nation ruined his life and arrested his dad.”

“He did it because he’s a good person!” Zuko snarled. “Because that’s what his father and mother taught him to do! I am grateful every day that he didn’t let his hatred of the Fire Nation get in the way of doing the right thing!”

“Sure,” the peasant said, clearly unconvinced. “Anyway, we don’t need your help. We already have a plan.”

“I doubt it’ll do you any good,” Zuko said. “They’ve taken him to the Fasong prison rig. I’ve been studying that place for a year. Nobody has ever escaped. If you want to be the first, then you’re going to need my help.”

“Sounds like we’d better take him with us, Sokka,” the Avatar said. The peasant boy groaned.

“Fine!” he said. “But I’m keeping an eye on you. Now come on, we’re already behind schedule. We were supposed to keep pace with Katara to make sure she got sent to the right prison.”

“It will take three days overland to get to Fasong,” Zuko said, standing up and putting the jar away. “They’ll be moving slowly if they’re transporting a prisoner.”

“Well, we’ve got the best transportation in the world, right buddy?” the Avatar said, patting the bison’s flank. The bison lowed, a deep, rumbling sound. Zuko raised an eyebrow as he led the bison outside. He and the peasant boy climbed up into its large saddle.

“Are you coming?” the peasant boy asked.

“How is this the best transportation?” Zuko asked, gesturing at the enormous, six-legged beast.

“Haven’t you ever seen a flying bison before?” the Avatar asked, giving him a smug look. “Come on!”

Zuko grabbed his swords from the ostrich horse, hefted his backpack, and clambered awkwardly up into the saddle. He sat across from the peasant, who glared at him. The Avatar cracked the reins.

“Appa, yip yip!”

The bison flew up into the air. Zuko, unprepared for the burst of speed, lost his balance and fell, rolling into the back of the saddle. Sokka clicked his tongue pityingly.

“First time flier, huh?” he said.

“Shut up,” Zuko growled. Then he called up to the Avatar. “Fasong’s south of here!” 

“Okay! Thanks!” the Avatar called back, adjusting course. It occurred to Zuko that the view of the world from so high up was breathtaking. But he couldn’t enjoy it because Haru was in danger. He scooted, carefully, closer to the peasant boy and took out his journal of notes.

“So, what’s your plan?” he said. “And how can we make it foolproof?”

Chapter 16: A Foolproof Plan

死里逃生 (sǐ lǐ táo shēng): to find a way out of certain death

 

The night was dark, and the seas were calm. Appa flew in silently towards the open-air prison yard on the rig, coming in low to hover just below the edge of the platform. Sokka, the Avatar, and Zuko peaked over it. Groups of people huddled under blankets around dying fire pits. They all wore brown prison clothes. Even from here, the stench of unwashed bodies reached them.

“There she is,” Sokka said, pointing. The Avatar hopped over the encircling fence on a gust of air and crept over to where Katara was sleeping. Zuko scanned around for Haru, but could not see him.

“Alright, time’s up,” Sokka said to Katara as she and the Avatar rejoined them. “Where’s Haru?”

“I’m not going,” Katara said.

“Uh, why not?” Sokka asked.

“We can’t just leave all these people here!” she said.

“Yes we can!” Sokka hissed. “We came here for a reason, now get Haru and let’s go!”

“No, Sokka,” she said firmly.

“Ugh! I hate it when you get like this,” he said.

They all entered the prison yard. Aang sent Appa away to hide, and then they all huddled in a dark corner behind some boxes to plan.

“Hi,” Katara said to Zuko, looking him over suspiciously. “Who are you?”

“I’m here to help,” he said tersely.

“Katara, this is Zuko,” Aang said. “He’s Haru’s friend.”

“Oh! You’re Haru’s childhood friend,” she said. Zuko nodded. That was a good enough summary. “Good. I’m glad you’re here. Four heads are better than three.”

“Even if one of them is a firebender,” Sokka said. 

There was a beat. Katara looked at Zuko, who sighed and nodded. Immediately, she scrambled away from him, knocking a box over. Aang and Sokka both made shushing sounds. Fortunately, the one guard who came to look didn’t look too carefully. Aang glared at Sokka. 

“What?” he said petulantly. “She has a right to know!”

“You asked a firebender for help!?” Katara demanded.

“We didn’t ask him, he just showed up and forced his way onto the team,” Sokka retorted.

“Guys, this isn’t helping!” Aang said. “We need to think of a plan.”

“Are you done?” Zuko asked, peeking over the boxes. “Because as fun as it is to argue in the dark in the world’s second most-impregnable prison, we have a job to do.”

“How are we gonna help everyone here?” Aang asked.

“They’ve lost all hope,” Katara said. “If there was just some way we could get them to help themselves.”

“The whole place is metal,” Sokka said. “There’s nothing here for them to bend.”

“That’s not true,” Aang said, pointing. In the middle of the rig was a large smokestack, out of which billowed coal smoke even at this hour. “This place burns coal. There’s gotta be tons of it here!”

“If we can bring it here to the yard, then they can fight for themselves,” Katara said.

“Even if you do that, it might not be enough,” Zuko said. “A simple uprising like this won’t be difficult to put down.”

“What do you suggest, then?” Katara asked, arms folded and eyes narrowed.

“We need to take out the Warden,” he said. “He’s in charge here. Without him to give commands, the prison guards won’t be as effective. Their defense will crumble from within.”

“That’s…not a bad idea, actually,” Katara said.

“Let’s split up,” Sokka said. “I’ve got an idea for the coal. I’ll need Aang’s help. Katara, you stay here and make sure everyone is ready when the time comes. Zuko, you go after the Warden.”

Zuko nodded. Katara protested.

“By himself? Sokka, he could be using this as a chance to turn us in!” she said.

“Believe me, he’s had plenty of chances to do that over the last couple of days we were waiting for you,” Sokka said with an angry sigh. “So either this has all been an elaborate plan to capture us, or he genuinely is here to help.”

“Alright,” she said, looking at Aang, who nodded encouragingly. “I’ll trust you. For now.”

“Good,” Zuko said, standing up. “We’re wasting time.”

 

The uprising started early the next morning, although it nearly didn’t. Haru was shaken awake by Katara and told to be ready, and then moments later a large pile of coal burst up through a grate in the yard floor, followed by a coal-stained Aang. His dad stopped him from rushing forward to grab some earth, but when the guards came to seize Katara and Aang, even his dad couldn’t hold him back.

Less than ten minutes later, they had taken the yard and broken out into the rest of the facility. Tyro and Haru met with Katara, Sokka, and Aang after the guards had been driven out.

“I want to thank you for saving me,” Haru said. “For saving us.”

“All it took was a little coal,” Katara said modestly.

“No,” Haru shook his head. “It wasn’t just that. It was you, Katara.”

“You gave us all hope when we had lost it,” his dad said, putting a hand on Haru’s shoulder. “Thank you, Katara of the Water Tribe. My family, and everyone here, owes you much.”

“So, I guess you’ll go back home now?” Katara said.

“Yes, we’ll go back and free our village,” his dad said. “We’ll free all our villages!”

He raised a fist, and the listening earthbenders cheered. Aang looked around, and then tapped Sokka on the shoulder.

“Oh, right,” Sokka said, also looking around. “What happened to Zuko?”

“I didn’t see the Warden during the fight,” Katara said. “So he must’ve succeeded.”

“Wait, Zuko?” Haru said, lurching forward to grab Sokka by the shoulders. “Zuko’s here? Now?! ”

“Easy, Haru!” Sokka said. “Yes, he’s here. He went after the Warden.”

“The Warden’s office is in that building,” Haru’s dad said, pointing to the castle-like structure in the center of the rig. Haru grabbed some coal and ran without waiting to see if anyone was following him. Two thoughts drowned out all else: Zuko came for me. Zuko’s in danger .

Of course, the others weren’t about to let him go by himself. They fought their way through pockets of guards running around in confusion or holding positions without orders. Katara could pull on the sea for her bending, and Aang had all of the sky at his command, but Haru and his dad had to conserve their coal. So when Haru, instead of smashing in a firebender’s faceplate with his bending, grabbed the man by the arm and threw him over a railing, his dad whistled.

“I never taught you that,” he said.

“Zuko did,” Haru said.

“Is this the boy you told me about?” his dad asked. “The one you rescued?”

“Yes,” Haru said. His dad squeezed his shoulder.

“We’ll get him back, son.”

They reached the castle and broke down the front door. Inside was quiet as they ran upstairs looking for the Warden. On the third floor, they rounded a corner in time to see a burst of fire erupt from an open sliding door. A firebender was thrown out, hitting the wall and crumpling to the floor.

“Zuko!” Haru called.

They reached the door. The room beyond was wide and completely destroyed. The far wall was taken up by large windows and balcony doors. The windows had been broken, and several unconscious or dead firebenders lay outside. Inside, the carpet and furniture had been scorched black. Zuko stood in a defensive stance in the center, panting, fists wreathed in flame. His hat was gone and his clothing was charred. More firebenders lay at his feet. He relaxed when he saw them.

“Haru,” he breathed, the corner of his mouth twitching.

Haru ran forward and threw his arms around Zuko, who fiercely returned the embrace. He felt Zuko’s body shaking, and felt his shoulder becoming damp. Zuko was crying.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said. “I’m safe. We’re all fine.”

“I’m so sorry,” Zuko said, voice quivering as he tried to maintain his composure. “I should’ve been there. I should’ve stopped them.”

“I…I thought you hated me,” Haru said quietly. “After what I did.”

“Never,” Zuko said. “I’d never hate you.”

They loosened the hug, and met each other’s gaze. They both felt their hearts beating loudly in their ears, in their chests. The air between them was electric. But an awkward cough from Sokka by the door broke the tension. The others were all standing there, watching. His dad especially looked unhappy with the situation.

“Haru,” he said, face stern. “Step away from him.”

“What?” Haru said. “Oh, right. Dad, this is Zuko. Zuko, this is my dad, Tyro.”

“It’s an honor to meet you,” Zuko said, bowing. His dad’s frown deepened.

“You didn’t tell me he was a firebender,” he said.

“I know, but listen to me, dad,” Haru said, putting himself between Zuko and his dad. “Zuko’s my friend. I saved his life, and he’s protected me many times against his own people.”

“Sir, I swear to you, I would never do anything to hurt or endanger your son,” Zuko said, also stepping forward as if to shield Haru from his angry father.

“The word of an ashmaker is meaningless to me,” his dad said, and then looked around at the destruction. “But it seems we have you to thank for getting rid of the Warden and occupying his guards. Where is he, by the way?”

“In the next room,” Zuko said, gesturing. “He’s a little tied up at the moment.”

“Hmph,” his dad said, looking down at Zuko appraisingly. Then, to Haru: “I like his sense of humor, at least.”

He then went to see the Warden for himself. Sokka, Aang, and Katara shuffled awkwardly.

“Well, this has been fun,” Sokka said. “But we really should get going. Are you guys good?”

“Thank you,” Zuko said, bowing to each of them. “For giving me a chance.”

“Yeah, you’re welcome,” Katara said, haughtily folding her arms. “Just don’t expect it to happen again.”

“It was nice meeting you, Zuko,” Aang said. “I’m glad that there are people from the Fire Nation who aren’t evil.”

“Can we go?” Sokka demanded. “Once the Fire Nation figures out what happened here, they’ll send reinforcements.”

They said their goodbyes and left. Haru’s dad came by as well with the Warden, bound and gagged, thrown over his shoulder like a sack of rice.

“I’ll meet you down at the docks,” he said. “The Warden and I have some unfinished business to take care of.”

“Okay, dad,” Haru said.

“Zuko,” his dad said. “I’m sure you can understand if I don’t approve of my son befriending a firebender. But what you did here today has bought you some favor. Don’t squander it.”

“I won’t,” Zuko said.

“One last thing,” his dad said. “Don’t tell the others that you’re a firebender. Some of them won’t be as generous as me.”

Haru and Zuko exchanged looks but nodded. His dad left them alone. Zuko shuffled a little.

“We should talk,” he said. “Somewhere that doesn’t smell like burnt meat.”

“Yeah,” Haru said.

They walked slowly down to the ground floor, the silence thick in the air between them.

“Haru, I—”

“Zuko, I’m—”

“You go first,” Haru said, laughing. The tension broke, and Zuko smiled.

“I wish you hadn’t run away that night,” Zuko said.

“I was scared,” Haru said. “And I was angry, and frustrated, and ashamed. The look on your face after I, uh. After I kissed you. I thought I’d ruined everything.”

“I was also scared,” Zuko admitted. “When you kissed me, I was confused, and maybe I was angry, too. Looking back, it was obvious how you felt, but at the time I didn’t even realize it. But when you left, the only thing I could think was, ‘he’s alone at night in Fasong. He’s in danger.’”

“Why didn’t you return to Xiaoshi?” Haru asked. “Or at least send me a letter?”

“I needed time to think,” Zuko said, stopping and turning to take Haru’s hands. “I needed time to come to terms with my own feelings.”

Haru’s heart skipped a beat. Zuko wordlessly drew him closer and kissed him. It was soft and it was brief, but it hinted at something deeper, something being actively restrained. Haru leaned in for a second kiss. It was longer and harder than the first, and it was all they could do to remember where they were and what was happening.

They broke apart, resting their foreheads together, and made a silent promise to pick up the conversation later.

Chapter 17: Choices

不可得兼 (bù kě dé jiān): you can’t have both at the same time

 

“Zuko, wait.”

They were walking down the last flight of stairs towards the docks. Zuko had raided the Warden’s closet for clean clothes for the both of them, and a new hat for himself. Chaos reigned on the rig. Most of the other prisoners had gathered by the docks and were getting the ferries ready to sail. A few had gone to the shipyard to gleefully smash as much as they could before fleeing. Fires had been set which were getting out of hand. Zuko stopped and looked back up at Haru.

“You do know who Aang is, right?” Haru asked.

“He’s the Avatar,” Zuko said.

“Right,” Haru said, rubbing his arm nervously. “So…that’s it?”

“Yeah,” Zuko said, turning on his heel and continuing down the stairs. “Let’s go.”

“Okay,” Haru said, disquiet growing in his belly.

 

Tyro was on the main quay directing things. Zuko approached him first.

“Where’s the Warden?” he asked.

“We had a little chat,” Tyro said. “And then I sent him on his way.”

Zuko nodded as Haru caught up to them.

“What now?” he asked.

“Now, we need to get back home without getting caught again,” Tyro said. “I was thinking we would sail directly back to Xiaoshi. What do you think?”

“We could land on the beach,” Haru said. “We’d be back in town within the day.”

“The only problem is the shoals,” Tyro said. “I was talking to a couple of fishermen about it. We’d have to come in when the tide was high.”

“What will you do when we arrive?” Zuko asked. Tyro regarded him coolly.

“We’ll take back our village,” he said. “Like I said before. If that doesn’t sit right with you, I’d suggest you not stick around once we get back.”

“Dad…” Haru said, but Zuko held out a hand to silence him.

“I spent a year of my life wandering the Earth Kingdom,” he said. “I saw what the Fire Nation did to your people for myself. You can do what you want to the soldiers, but the civilians have all been lied to about the war. I would ask that you give them a chance to leave peacefully.”

“Why should I give them that chance, when they sat by and ignored the suffering inflicted on us?” Tyro asked. “They could’ve spoken up at any time. Instead, they bought up our land and forced us out of our homes.”

“Haru said you taught him right from wrong,” Zuko pressed. “He saved my life because of it. Are you telling me it’s not wrong to harm innocent people?”

“They’re not innocent, Zuko,” Tyro said. “They had every chance to open their eyes and see for themselves that the war was wrong. They chose to look away every time. I don’t intend on a massacre, but I won’t show them mercy.”

They glared at each other. Zuko looked away first, and then nodded. Tyro grunted, and went back to helping the ferries launch. Haru took Zuko’s hand.

“He’s right, Zuko,” Haru said.

“I know he is,” Zuko said. “I just wish there was a way this didn’t have to end in blood.”

“Everything will change when we get back,” Haru said. “The Fire Nation will definitely send more soldiers here, maybe even the whole army.”

Zuko squeezed Haru’s hand.

“If this is your way of trying to scare me off,” he said, smiling crookedly. “It won’t work.”

“It’s going to be tough, you know,” Haru said, scooting a little closer so they were shoulder to shoulder.

“I wonder what that must be like,” Zuko said sardonically. “My life’s been nothing but sunshine and flowers.”

“Spoiled brat,” Haru teased.

“Dumb peasant,” Zuko replied.

They laughed, and then let go as Tyro called them to board. Zuko took a steadying breath, and then walked up the gangplank onto the ferry. An earthbender fisherman was at the helm, and a small crew of others were getting the boiler running.

“It’ll be a day at least to Xiaoshi, so get comfortable. If we’re lucky, the weather won’t turn on us,” the pilot called.

“Let’s go then,” Tyro said, raising the gang plank.

 

The ferries all launched, some breaking away from the makeshift flotilla to go to other villages somewhere else. Each was entirely full of people and what supplies they could scavenge in the brief time they took to prepare to sail. Space was made on the deck for sick, elderly, and injured earthbenders to rest, and everyone else just had to find space. Haru and Zuko were stuck together near the bow next to Tyro, who organized watch shifts, meal times, and the like.

Late evening, some space on the deck had been cleared. After a few meals, they’d gone through a lot of the foodstuffs, and opted to throw the empty crates overboard. There was now room belowdecks in the hold. Many who complained of the cold went below, while the rest took shelter against the oncoming winter night. Zuko and Haru moved towards the back, where the heat of the boiler was enough to stave off the worst of it. They sat with their backs to the railing, cuddled together under a blanket. They had little privacy, so they did no more than that. Haru leaned in so he and Zuko’s noses were almost touching.

“Hey,” Haru said, just loud enough to be heard over the wind and the turning of the engine.

“Hi,” Zuko said.

“Do you know how long I’ve liked you?” Haru asked. Zuko thought about it.

“You've liked me ever since I came back to Xiaoshi,” he said.

“Wrong,” Haru replied. “It was my 14th birthday. The sea glass jar.”

“Oh!” Zuko said, pulling back suddenly. He retrieved the jar from his bag and presented it to Haru. “You left it when you ran.”

“I thought I’d broken it!” Haru exclaimed, taking it and holding it close to his chest.

“I don’t know if I found all the pieces,” Zuko said. “I would’ve replaced the jar even if you had broken it.”

“This is why I like you,” Haru said.

“Because I have excellent taste in gifts,” Zuko replied with a smirk.

“No, dummy,” Haru said, punching him. “You fix what’s broken.”

Zuko frowned and looked down at the deck. A couple of earthbenders walked past them towards the bow. When they had gone, Zuko spoke.

“I wish I could fix the Fire Nation,” he said.

Haru bit his lip. It was now or never.

“Zuko, why did you let the Avatar go?” he asked.

“You’re asking about that now?” Zuko said. “You never even believed I’d find him.”

“Well, yeah, you’re right,” Haru said. “But you did find him. You could have…you could have succeeded in your quest.”

“I didn’t find him,” Zuko said after a moment. “He walked into Xiaoshi on his own. By chance. Nothing I did all these years made a difference.”

Haru squeezed his hand.

“I think you made a big difference,” he said.

“Thanks,” Zuko said. “But what I mean is: if it’s my destiny to find the Avatar, then it seems I’ll find him whether I’m searching or not. And if I’m meant to capture him and turn him over to the Fire Nation to end the war, then that chance will come, too, whether I chase him or not.”

“Do you still want to?” Haru asked, alarmed.

“Don’t be dumb,” Zuko said, flicking his nose.

“Then what do you want?” Haru asked.

“I want you,” Zuko said, looking at him with a burning, intense gaze. “I want this war to end. Maybe that means trying to take my throne back, or maybe it doesn’t. I used to be so certain of that. But I’m certain about you. I always have been.”

Haru expelled a ragged breath.

“Zuko, you can’t say things like that while there are people around,” Haru whispered huskily in his ear.

“I think your dad might throw me overboard if we got caught,” Zuko said.

“Spirits, he might,” Haru said, scooting away to cool off. “Okay. Um. Have you ever…?”

He gave Zuko a significant look. Zuko’s brow furrowed in confusion, and then he realized what Haru meant.

“Have I ever had sex?” he said, clicking his tongue. “No. I only ever kissed one person before you, and that was a silly childhood crush.”

And then Zuko, despite knowing how much Haru was holding himself back, despite the five or six potential witnesses nearby, leaned in to whisper in Haru’s ear.

“Unlike you, though,” he said. “I’m not ashamed of looking, or asking questions.”

Haru gulped.

“Zuko, what does that mean?” he asked, trying not to scream.

“Let’s just say, there are bath houses where you can go to witness some pretty amazing things,” Zuko said, smirking. 

This was half-true: the bath house that he was remembering kept that area sectioned off, in a part of the building where the lamps were dim and the saunas were small, private rooms. But sounds carried, and the men in the main bath were always on the lookout for interested partners. It was an instructional visit, although Zuko was sure at the time he’d never actually need to know anything that he learned that day.

“I hate what you’re doing to me right now,” Haru said.

“Just be patient,” Zuko said. “We’ll be home tomorrow.”

Haru flushed, but nodded. The two of them waited until they were calmer before finding a place to put Zuko’s bedroll. When Tyro came to check on them that night before turning in himself, he found them sleeping back to back under the blanket, Haru clutching the jar of sea glass in his arms.

Chapter 18: Rebellion

理直氣壯 (lǐ zhí qì zhuàng): in the right and self-confident; bold and confident with justice on one's side

 

The sun was up when the tide came in, high enough for the ferries to make it over the shoals. They beached the boats, and disembarked onto the rocky beach. Tyro, with Haru by his side, addressed the group.

“We’ll make camp nearby for those too weak to fight,” he said. “I’ll need volunteers to help scout the area for Fire Nation patrols. Tonight, we strike. Xiaoshi will be free!”

The earthbenders all cheered. Tyro patted Haru on the shoulder.

“Haru, I want you to lead the scout team,” he said. “You know how the village has changed these last five years. Be careful, stay out of sight, and don’t get caught. We want to catch them by surprise.”

“You can count on me, dad,” Haru said, his heart swelling with pride.

Tyro set about organizing the camp while Haru went looking for Zuko. He found him some ways down the beach, staring out to sea. He had a knife in his hand.

“What are you doing?” Haru asked.

“In the Fire Nation,” Zuko said, reaching up to remove his hat. “When you are convicted of certain crimes your hair is shaved. It symbolizes your loss of honor and marks you as a criminal.”

His hair tumbled down his back in the long queue he had maintained since he’d returned from his failed journey to find the Avatar. The rest of his scalp was, as always, meticulously shaved. Haru watched as Zuko grabbed his queue near the base and lifted the knife. With a swift, sure motion, and a brief grimace, Zuko cut the queue.

He held the severed braid in his hand for a few moments. Then he wound up and threw it into the sea. It landed in the waves with a splash. Zuko rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck, and it was as if a weight had been lifted from him. He smiled at Haru, nearly bald except for some ragged roots on top of his crown. Haru snickered.

“What?” Zuko demanded.

“Sorry, you look really stupid now,” Haru said.

“I’ll shave the rest off later,” Zuko snapped, fixing his hat back on.

“So, does this make you a criminal prince, now?” Haru teased. “I never thought I’d be into bad boys.”

“This makes me not a prince anymore, dummy,” Zuko said. “I’m nobody now.”

“You’re Zuko,” Haru said. “That’s good enough for me.”

“Can’t believe I’m settling for you,” Zuko said, glancing over Haru’s shoulder before leaning in to steal a kiss. “So, what’s the plan?”

“The plan is, you and I, and some others, are going to scout out the village,” he said. “Tonight, we’re going to attack.”

“We’ll need to figure out where the garrison is,” Zuko said. “And which areas we need to capture and hold in case things go badly.”

“Yeah, that stuff,” Haru said. “Battle tactics.”

“I’ve read Chin’s commentary on Doctrines of Warfare ,” Zuko said with a sneer. “Agni help me, this is probably why you all lost last time.”

“Well, then I’m glad you’re on our side,” Haru said, slapping him on the back. “Now come on, we’re burning daylight.”

 

They met in the woods above the beach. Six earthbenders, plus Haru and Zuko, made up the scouting team. Haru was easily the youngest among them, but Tyro had put him in charge and that meant the others had to listen, even if only begrudgingly. Zuko hung back. Nobody else knew he was a firebender; however, he was still clearly Fire Nation, and that meant nobody really trusted him.

“Alright, let’s go over the plan one last time,” Haru said. “You four will scout the hills and the mines north of the village. You three and I will scout the farms south. Stay low and out of sight, and be on the lookout for Fire Nation patrols. Zuko, you’ll walk through town. Play the part of a traveling merchant.”

“And don’t even think about selling us out,” one of the earthbenders warned.

“Hadn’t crossed my mind,” Zuko replied. His tone was perhaps too dry, because the earthbender’s glower darkened.

“You want a black eye to match your scar?” he snarled.

“Hey! Focus!” Haru snapped his fingers in the earthbender’s face. “He’s not the enemy. Do you want to kick the Fire Nation out or not?”

The earthbender grumbled and folded his arms, but said nothing. 

“Good,” Haru said. “When you’re finished, meet at the abandoned copper mine east of town.”

With their missions clear, the scouting team split up. Zuko waved to Haru as he disappeared into the trees. Then he straightened his hat, adjusted his pack, and began the trek back to town.

 

It was midday when Zuko reached the market, having circled around to the Fasong road first so he could pass the inn. Patches of snow lay on the ground, and the air tasted of flint and frost. There were only a few ostrich horses in the inn’s stable, and the only people he saw on the road were Fire Nation soldiers making patrols. He counted a dozen or so. Once he got to the market, he stopped by the noodle shop to eat and observe.

“Welcome honored—oh, it’s you,” the noodle shop auntie said with a scowl. “I hope you intend to pay this time.”

“Spicy noodles,” Zuko ordered. “And black tea.”

He was given his food without ceremony and left alone. The noodle shop was busy—the Fire Nation merchants and colonists preferred to stay indoors away from the cold, eating, drinking, and laughing. He gathered a few bits and pieces of gossip, but nothing of substance.

“—Raiden caught his stableboy stealing yesterday, whining about his sick uncle and not having enough food. All lies, of course—”

“—and we need more miners. The mayor should order the farmers into the mines during the winter months. Instead, they laze around all day doing nothing. It’s shameful! If it were up to me—”

“—well sure, the local girls aren’t much to look at, but they’re so easy. Just offer a few cheap gifts and they’ll open their legs anytime, anywhere.”

“Ugh, I’m not that desperate. It’s like burying your pepper in mud. It’s filthy. I’d rather—”

As he listened, his anger grew. He wondered at how these people could be so callous, so casually malicious. He wondered at himself for trying to defend them to Tyro. His appetite gone, he put some money on the table and stood up to leave.

“Looks like it’s correct, this time,” the noodle shop auntie said.

“I paid you what you’re owed,” Zuko replied, adjusting his hat. “That’s more than you deserve.”

He let the door close behind him with a bang, and strode out into the market. He had one more stop to make before walking by the mayor’s manor and meeting the other scouts at the rendezvous point. He paused outside of Susu’s Grocery Shop. She had a right to know, didn’t she?

“Hello?” he called as he went in. There were a few shoppers buying jars of pickled vegetables. He waited until they were gone before approaching the counter.

“You’re back,” Haru’s mom said. She looked exhausted, and let all pretense of friendly customer service drop. “I thought… Did you do it?”

“Yes,” Zuko said. “I had help.”

“Oh, thank the spirits,” she said, sagging against the back wall. “Is he safe?”

“For now,” Zuko said, checking over his shoulder. The door was shut. “Listen to me: we didn’t just rescue Haru, we rescued everyone. They’re coming back. Tonight.”

“Tonight?” 

“When you close up, just go home,” Zuko said. “Stay indoors, and don’t open up for anyone except Haru or Tyro.”

“Tyro is here? Truly?” she asked, eyes wide.

“Shh!” Zuko raised a finger at her. “Don’t say anything! If the soldiers find out, then none of this will matter.”

“I see,” she said. The door opened and a customer walked in. Haru’s mom raised her voice. “I’m deeply sorry, sir, but I don’t have any more pickled beetroot.”

“Fine, I’ll take my custom elsewhere,” Zuko said, affecting a haughty air. He left, hoping that he had told her enough, and that she wouldn’t do anything foolish.

 

Zuko met the other scouts at the abandoned mine close to sundown. They gathered in a cave overlooking the lake, which had a thin layer of ice over the top.

“I counted a dozen soldiers patrolling the fields,” one earthbender said.

“There’s a lot more by the mines,” said another. “Maybe twenty or thirty.”

“There’s a barracks between the mayor’s house and the mine entrance,” said a third. “That’s where they sleep.”

“I saw the chief of police and his deputy talking to a farmer,” said a fourth. “Looked like they were arresting someone.”

“The tax collector lives in a rich house,” said a fifth. “I’d love to just collapse the whole thing with that ashmaker inside.”

“There’s a new-looking trail in the mountains,” said the sixth earthbender. “It must be for patrols to keep an eye out for bandits.”

“There are still a few places near the village that are forested,” Haru said. “We’ll have places to hide if we need them.”

“The inns on the Fasong road and the Dan Duan road are almost empty,” Zuko said. “But if those places aren’t secured, someone might run to get help.”

“Okay,” Haru said. “Let’s get back to the beach and tell my dad.”

“We should leave a few at a time,” Zuko suggested.

“A big group would be easier to spot,” the second earthbender said. “I’ll go first. Shang, are you coming?”

“Yeah,” Shang, the third earthbender, said, and the two of them left.

Zuko and Haru were the last ones in the abandoned mine. The sun was nearly down, and by its fading rays the two of them crashed into each other like starving animals descending on the last scraps. Haru held Zuko’s face in his hands and kissed him with bruising force while Zuko sank his fingernails into Haru’s hips, pressing them together. Haru was physically stronger than Zuko, and pushed him up against the wall of the cave.

“Oma and Shu, Zuko, I’ve been wanting to do this since I saw you in the Warden’s office,” Haru said, grinding against him. Zuko simply growled and undid their belts. Warming his hands, he seized Haru’s erection and pressed it to his own, vigorously rubbing them together. Haru’s kisses became gasps and moans as they took this one chance to satisfy their mutual, aching desire.

 

Afterwards—after leaning against each other, breathless and, for the time being, satisfied—after wiping away the evidence and getting properly dressed—they walked hand in hand back towards the beach. The afterglow was bathed in starlight, but the winter’s chill and the looming attack spoiled the mood.

“I don’t want you to fight with us,” Haru said. “You’re Fire Nation, and the others might use that as an excuse to hurt you.”

“I don’t want you to fight, either,” Zuko said. “The soldiers you’ll be going up against are thugs. They’ll enjoy killing you, if they get the chance.”

“I’ll talk to my dad,” Haru said. “Maybe there’s something you could do that would help us win but keep you away from the others.”

“Haru,” Zuko said, stopping. “I promised I would keep you safe. I won’t leave your side.”

“Dummy,” Haru said, kissing him. “How can you keep me safe if someone like Rong breaks your legs?”

“Who’s Rong?” Zuko asked.

“The guy who threatened you earlier,” Haru said.

“Fine,” Zuko said, rolling his eyes. “I’d love to see him try, but if your dad has a better idea I’ll listen.”

“Good,” Haru said.

They continued walking, drawing closer together for warmth.

 

Back at the beach, Tyro held a meeting for all the able-bodied earthbenders.

“Tonight’s the night we begin to take back our homes,” he said. “Starting with Xiaoshi. We’re going to split into teams and take them by surprise. We have to destroy their barracks, and capture or kill the tax collector, the postmaster, the chief of police, and the captain of the garrison. If they take shelter in the mines, we bring them down on their heads. I need volunteers to go and block the roads to Fasong and Dan Duan. We keep fighting, we watch each others’ backs, and when the dawn comes we will have victory.”

The earthbenders cheered, thrusting their fists in the air.

“For the Earth Kingdom! For Xiaoshi!”

“For all of us!” Tyro cried, raising his own fist. Tyro approached Zuko then, and folded his arms. “Haru and I spoke, and we both agreed it would be best if you didn’t join the main fight. I have a special mission for you, instead. You’re to go to the mayor’s manor and capture that snake alive.”

“Understood,” Zuko said with a firm nod. Haru smiled tightly at him, and then went to join the others. Zuko fixed his dao over his back and ran off into the night.

 

The mayor’s mansion was quiet. The house servants were asleep as Zuko crept through its finely appointed rooms. Distantly, he could hear rumbling earth and cries of pain. The battle had begun. He found the mayor in his room, sitting up in his bed and looking around in the darkness.

“Hello? Who’s there?” he called.

Zuko ignited a flame and held it up to his face.

“Prince Zuko?” the mayor said. “What are you doing here?”

“The earthbenders have returned,” he said. “They’re rebelling.”

“They’ve—? Agni save us. There’s no time! I have to get the captain,” the mayor said, getting out of bed. Zuko drew his swords.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he said.

“Your Highness, what is the meaning of this?” the mayor asked. Zuko wordlessly advanced on him with the swords, and the mayor gasped in realization. “You’re…you traitor! You’re here to kill me, aren’t you?”

“No,” he said. “Unless you give me an excuse. Now, kneel.”

Zuko tied the mayor’s hands with a nearby sash. There was a loud boom from outside, followed by the sounds of crumbling masonry. Hurried footsteps from outside preceded the door to the women’s quarters opening. The mayor’s wife swept in, candle lit.

“Darling, I heard noises, what’s—oh, spirits,” she gasped.

“It’s alright, dear,” the mayor said. “Just go back to bed.”

“You’d better do as he says,” Zuko said. “I’m not here for you.”

She looked between the two of them, and then turned tail and fled. She cried for the servants, for the guards. Zuko jerked the mayor to his feet.

“Let’s go,” he said.

“How could you?” the mayor asked as he stumbled through the house behind Zuko. “How could you do this to your country? To your Father?”

Zuko stopped in the entryway. He fixed the mayor with a withering look.

“If my Father had wanted a loyal son, he wouldn’t have done this,” he said, pointing at his scar. “If the Fire Nation wanted a dutiful prince, then we wouldn’t have spent the last hundred years burning as much of the world to the ground as possible. And if you think what you’ve done here as mayor of Xiaoshi is honorable and good, then you’re a blind fool.”

The mayor protested. He begged and pleaded as Zuko handed him over to the earthbenders gathering in the village square. A few fires burned in the direction of the mines, but as Zuko made his way from the square to the market, he saw little real destruction. Jubilant Earth Kingdom people celebrated. Frightened Fire Nation people bolted their doors and fled furtively through the shadows. He went to the noodle shop and let himself inside. The noodle shop auntie was there with a few others, including some merchants Zuko knew frequented the place.

“What’s going on?” she cried, seeing him. “Where are the soldiers?”

“The soldiers aren’t coming,” Zuko said. “By tomorrow, this village will be in the hands of the earthbenders. If you don’t want them to hurt you, then you’d better run away while you can.”

The color drained from her face. She collapsed to the floor, a frightened, sobbing mess, while her merchant friends scrambled to gather their possessions and take Zuko’s advice. Zuko observed all of this numbly. Then he went to find Haru.

 

On a hunch, he went to Haru’s house. The lights were on inside, and he could hear voices. A reunion was happening, and Zuko felt that it wasn’t his place to intrude. He dithered at the gate before turning to leave.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

Haru appeared out of the shadows in the front yard. He was grinning. Zuko clicked his tongue.

“I didn’t want to intrude,” he said.

“Me, neither,” Haru said. “Mom and dad have been all lovey-dovey since we got back. It’s gross.”

He made a face, and Zuko laughed.

“That’s a shame you feel that way,” he said. “I was planning on some lovey-dovey-ness.”

“Hey, now, hey,” Haru said, hopping over the low garden wall. “A little bit is okay.”

“Good,” Zuko said, pulling Haru in for a long, sensuous kiss. They broke apart and rested their foreheads together. “I’m not sure I’m doing the right thing.”

“What do you mean?” Haru asked.

“People die in war,” Zuko said. “I know that. But before rescuing you, I’d never actually…killed anyone before. I’d never led anyone to their death.”

Haru hugged him.

“I hadn’t, either,” Haru said. Zuko squeezed him back. “But Zuko, I had to watch firebenders hurt and kill my people every day for years. It’s wrong, and we have to stop them.”

“I know,” Zuko said. “I’ll get used to it.”

“Hey,” Haru said, putting his hand on Zuko’s cheek. “If it bothers you that much, we can leave. Just you and me, traveling the world. Mom and dad are safe, for now, and they’ll think of a way to beat the Fire Nation.”

Zuko just shook his head. It was a nice idea, but he knew Haru wasn’t being serious.

“Let’s travel the world when the war’s over,” he said. “If we go now, the only thing we’ll find is…”

He waved vaguely in the direction of the still-burning fires by the mines. Haru sighed.

“Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “Looks like you’re stuck here with me.”

“Was this your plan all along?” Zuko asked, forcing himself to match Haru’s attempt at levity.

“Was I that transparent?” Haru asked. “Darn.”

“You’re a terrible liar,” Zuko said, kissing him again. “Dumb peasant.”

“Spoiled brat,” Haru teased back. They both looked back at the house. The lights were still on, but they didn’t hear voices anymore. “I think we should give my parents some privacy.”

“Yeah,” Zuko said. “Wanna watch the sunrise with me?”

“Yes,” Haru said, beaming.

They went and found a secluded vantage that overlooked the small valley that contained Xiaoshi, the farm fields, and the north-south road. The eastern mountains were white under the moon and stars. Zuko lit a fire for them to huddle around. They talked, they touched, they kissed, and they sat in silent contemplation. When the sun rose over the mountains, they could see that the Fire Nation banners in town had been taken down. Bedsheets and towels hastily daubed with green paint hung from the walls of the mayor’s manor. Smoke rose from the ruin of the barracks, the collapsed tax collector’s house, and the mines.

“This is just the beginning,” Haru said as he played with Zuko’s fingers.

“Let’s see it through to the end,” Zuko said, taking off his hat. The wind played at the severed roots of his queue. “Together.”

 

THE END

Notes:

My source for the chengyu at the beginning of each chapter is here
I tried my best to confirm all of them using other sources, 'cuz I'm not Chinese nor do I speak it, and getting the meaning right is important to me. The exception is the yojijukugo at the start of chapter 5, which I found on jisho.org.

Dan Duan comes from 丹端 dān duān and has the meaning 'red/cinnabar port', although duān has a bunch of other meanings, too. I have shamelessly recycled names from my other fic Honor & Vengeance On The High Seas, so if you notice something familiar it's because I'm lazy. Fasong isn't mine to begin with, I lifted that off a detailed map of the Avatar world I found on world anvil here

As usual, all honor and glory to the beta team, especially ThirdWavePorrimist, although she only actually read the first couple of chapters. Everything from chapter 8 onward is a product of my own mania.

I think that's it in terms of direct credits and acknowledgements? If I think of more I'll add them.